The Hybrid, Book 1
by Strike.x
Summary: Jack Lupin, son of werewolf and new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, is off to Hogwarts, but Jack is no ordinary teenager; he's a cross between a werewolf and a Lycan - one of the most feared creatures of the magical world. And with Sirius Black on the loose, can Jack keep his secret safe and hope for a normal year at Hogwarts?
1. Waiting for Toast

I sat at the table, waiting for the toast to pop out of the toaster. My foot was tapping impatiently against the floor and I drummed my fingers along the polished wooden surface. When you're me, sitting still is a big deal.

It was nearing the end of the summer holidays, which wasn't actually such a bad thing. Up until a few months ago, I'd gone to St. Brutus's Establishment for Troubled Kids.

I was pretty sure I wasn't a 'troubled kid.'

I just had a few problems with authority.

If there was one sure thing, it was that I wouldn't be going back there. The first reason being that I had been expelled - a small misunderstanding with an as equally small explosion - and the second being my Dad had got a new job.

I loved my Dad, and this new job was a great opportunity for him; it was extremely hard for him to get a job. He'd scored a job at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where I would now be going to school.

I should've gone there two years ago, when I'd received my letter of acceptance at the age of eleven, but it was hard times, and both me and Dad agreed it was for the best that I didn't go for a few years, but now he was going too, it was sorted.

I'd only lived with my Dad for six years, but we were extremely close. Before that, I'd lived with my mother.

Now, we weren't the usual 'happy family,' in fact, we were far from it.

For starters, my Dad was a werewolf; he'd been bitten when he was very young because his father had offended a werewolf named Greyback, the most vicious werewolf out there. From then on, every full moon, my Dad would undergo a horrible and painful transformation into a wolf, and as far as I knew, there was no cure. In the Wizarding world, being a werewolf was like an occupational hazard. Once employers found out what he was, they refused to hire him, which was why we were always incredibly low on money. And why I was happy for him to get this job.

My mother was a completely different story; she wasn't a werewolf, but she was something much, much worse.

She belonged to a race called Lycanthropes. Lycan was sometimes seen as another word for werewolf, but it was far from it. Lycans had the ability to transform from human to wolf at will, along with enhanced speed, strength and senses. They were the very worst of the Magical Creatures to walk the earth, even if they were lacking in numbers. They killed a lot, thought of humans as their cattle. This was easy, as Lycans didn't have the same grip on emotions as humans; their emotions were enhanced; sadness was sorrow, anger was rage, and so on. All this made life with 'the Pack' pretty damn difficult until my ninth birthday, when the Ministry of Magic decided enough was enough, and made the decree for all Lycans to be destroyed.

It worked; Lycans were virtually extinct.

And when I say 'virtually,' I mean 'apart from me.'

I wasn't a full Lycan, which was one of the reasons I'd been allowed to live. My mother had dropped me off at Dad's house before the Ministry could get a hold of her, and left without so much as a goodbye.

We generally didn't get along.

In fact, the whole Pack hated me.

Sure, me and some of the others got along okay, but my arms, back and torso bore the scars of the many fights I'd gotten into, and the skin around my collar bone and throat was home to many bite marks from the large teeth of the wolves who had sought to teach me a lesson.

Above all the other scars, there was one that stood out compared to the rest; thick and white, the scar ran from above my right eye to my cheekbone. It looked like an old knife slash, which was actually what it was - courtesy of my cousin, Lysander.

Git.

The toast popped out of the toaster suddenly, making me jump. I cursed myself for being so jumpy for toast of all things.

I had a sort of unusual style in clothing; my black jeans were frayed at the bottom and chains hung from the belt loops. The T-shirt I wore was also black, with a white skull on it. I usually wore my aviators jacket or another black jacket, but it was a hot day. The clothes complimented my appearance; I was average height with an athletic figure. My skin was porcelain pale, which was made to look even paler with the help of my extremely unruly raven black hair, with bangs that usually covered my eyes. The reason for that was my eyes were an unusual and eerie liquid gold colour. I'd learned over the years to manipulate my eye colour, and if I didn't loose focus, my eyes stayed an electric blue with gold flecks - much less eerie, but still eerie enough to draw attention.

I buttered my toast, humming a random tune to a song I didn't even know. Dad was buying my school supplies in Diagon Alley, and should be back soon. We lived on the outskirts of town in a two-bedroom house, and sometimes, it got quite lonely. My mother was dead - of that I was certain - along with the rest of the pack, which included my half brother.

My sensitive ears picked up the sound of gravel crunching underfoot before I registered it completely. Being a Lycan, my senses were heightened way beyond normal capacity - not as much as they would've been if I were a full Lycan. I put my toast on a plate as the front door opened, and the slight breeze blew my father's scent towards me.

"Hey Moony!" I called, jumping onto the sofa. I know what you're thinking; Moony? What kind of a name is 'Moony?' Well, my Dad's name was Remus Lupin, but his friends at Hogwarts had named him Moony upon finding out about his condition. The name kind of stuck.

"Hey, Jack," Dad said, walking into the living room and sitting down on the armchair opposite me. Dad was only in his early thirties, but life wasn't kind to a werewolf. His tawny brown hair was prematurely streaked with grey and his face was tired and lined. Even so, his light blue eyes showed how young he was as he looked at me fondly. "Just woken up?"

"You know me," I said, taking a bite out of my toast. "I'm a nocturnal beast."

He smiled, but he looked exhausted, like he could sleep for a week. I felt concern wash over me and I said "go get some sleep, Moons, you look like Death."

He smiled again, the weariness evident. Tonight happened to be the night of the full moon; I'd been restless and irritable all day, but Moony must be feeling like shit; his body wasn't meant to go through the transformation he was forced to undergo. Mine was designed for it.

I'd been drinking Wolfsbane potion all day, as had my Dad; the amazing effects of the potion made up for it's extremely horrible and cringe-worthy taste. For one, my Dad would be in his right mind when he transformed, and it would stop him fidgeting so much - which made the exhaustion worse. For me, it took away a lot of my rash behavior and irritability, thank God.

Today wasn't an exceptionally good day for it to be the full moon; it was September the first tomorrow, a.k.a. the day we leave for Hogwarts.

And now, I had to concentrate on not killing anyone.

Which, when you're me, is easier said than done.


	2. Now I Hate Trains

**** I FORGOT TO MENTION IN THE FIRST CHAPTER (BECAUSE I'M THICK) BUT ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE FROM THIS STORY BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING, ANYTHING ELSE IS MINE ****

It was weird to see Dad up and about the day after the full moon. His face was drawn and dark circles engulfed his eyes. I didn't look much better to be honest; I stayed with my Dad during the full moon - I was part werewolf, even if he did bite me it wouldn't have no effect, I should know seeing as he's done it enough times. I had a hard time trying to keep my eyes blue and more or less open as we walked through King's Cross Station, and dragging our heavy trunks wasn't helping. I couldn't help think we should miss the opening feast; we might scare the students.

Without a pause, Moony and I walked right through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Before I could blink, we were standing in the isolated station of platform nine and three quarters, with the young generation of witches and wizards bustling about and a huge scarlet steam engine in front of me with the words 'THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS' embezzled across the front.

We boarded the train and slipped into a compartment near the back. I helped Dad load the luggage. Within minutes of sitting down, Moony quickly fell asleep. I seriously wanted to as well.

The compartment door suddenly opened, making me start. I looked towards the door and noticed three teens standing there.

"Mind if we sit?" A girl my age had entered; her bushy brown hair framed her face and her brown eyes were dark and intelligent. Her front teeth were rather large, but it wasn't a mark against her appearance. "Everywhere else is full."

"No, feel free." I said, my voice thick with the sleep I hadn't had.

She walked into the compartment, closely followed by two boys. The first had flaming red hair and a face dusted with freckles. He was lanky, and his features were quite long. The boy behind him was small and scrawny, but also my age. His hair was as black as mine and was just as messy. His eyes were a vivid green behind his round glasses... A green I found strangely familiar. In fact, I swear I'd seen this boy before. Then, I caught sight of the lightening bolt shaped scar, and knew why I recognized him; Dad had many pictures of James and Lily in the house, and Harry was James's double, with the exception of Lily's eyes.

"I'm Hermione by the way," she said with a smile. "Hermione Granger."

"Nice to meet you, Hermione Granger," I said silkily, shaking her outstretched hand. I caught the hint of a blush on her cheeks, and resisted the urge to retract my hand; Lycans had natural good looks. I'm not being self centered or anything, but we had beautiful features; we had good looks to trick our prey into feeling safe around us before striking, or tricking someone into following us down a dark alley...

With an inward shudder, I took my hand away and shook hands with the red head, who simply introduced himself as Ron Weasley, then to Harry, who simply said "Hi, I'm Harry Potter."

I leaned back in my seat, running my fingers through the back of my hair. I could see them all throwing glances at the faint scars around my neck and down my arms, and on the thick one on my face, but I was used to it.

"So, what year are you in?" Hermione asked, attempting to make small talk and tearing her eyes away from my collar bone, where most of the scars were. I smiled slightly, finding it more and more difficult to keep my eyes open.

"Third," I said, leaning against the window. "What about you guys?"

"We're all third years," Ron said. "Gryffindors."

I smiled. "Awesome," I muttered sleepily. "I'm hoping to be a Gryffindor."

"That's great." Harry said, genuinely pleased. I smiled; I'd had trouble making friends since I was younger, but it looked like it was easier than I thought.

"Who's that?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Professor Remus Lupin," Hermione said at the same time I said "My Dad."

"Your Dad's a professor?" Harry asked, slightly surprised. I nodded, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand.

"Yeah," I said, closing my eyes. "Defense Against the Dark arts... Cool subject..."

I drifted into a lulling darkness then, letting the exhaustion win as sleep took over.

****LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK ****

I woke with a start. It was growing dark outside, and the train had stopped, yet none of the trio occupying the compartment were in their robes.

"That's impossible, we're nowhere near the school!" Hermione stated. I blinked the tiredness out of my eyes, thinking hard about the electric blue colour I needed them to be. I peered through the darkness descending on us, the lights had gone out.

"Is it me, or is it getting colder in here?" Ron asked, putting his arms around himself in an attempt to get warm. I had a tolerance to coldness, so I didn't know whether to say yes or not.

"Do you think we've broken down?" I asked, my voice hoarse from sleep. I cleared my throat.

"I dunno..." I heard Hermione respond, most likely thinking the same things I was; this was a magic train, how could it break down?

I heard a squeaking noise and whipped my head round to see Ron wiping a patch clean on the window and peering out into the darkness. I looked too, my sensitive eyes picking up movement.

"There's something moving out there!" Ron said quietly, voicing my thoughts.

The compartment door suddenly opened and I spun round, a snarl ready to escape my lips, only to see a boy with black hair and a round face enter the compartment. As I was looking him over, he tripped on Harry's legs.

"Sorry, do you know what's going on? Ouch, sorry." The boy said, not being able to find a hold to pull himself up.

"Hello Neville." Harry said, feeling for the boy and helping him up.

"Harry? Is that you? What's happening?" the boy I assumed was Neville asked.

"I have no idea, sit down."

He was about to sit on the ginger cat, but I grabbed his sleeve and said , "Don't sit there, that cat's there." I guided him towards the seat next to me.

"Thanks." said Neville.

"I'm going to ask the driver what's going on." Hermione voiced. She passed by Harry and opened the door again, only to bump blindly into a small red-headed girl. They both squealed in pain

"Who's that?"

"Who's that?"

"Ginny?"

"Hermione?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Ron -"

"Come in and sit down -"

"Not here," I said quickly as the girl nearly sat on my lap. "I'm here!"

"Ouch!" said Neville as Hermione trod on his foot in an attempt to get back to her seat.

While all this was occurring, Moony appeared to have finally woken up. "Quiet!" He said hoarsely. There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. Dad looked to be holding a handful of flames. The flames illuminated his tired, grey face, but his eyes looked alert and wary. "Stay where you are." He said in the same horse voice.

He slowly got to his feet, the handful of fire held out in front of him as he walked to the compartment door, which had been opened so many times this trip. But, before Moony reached it, it slid open. Again.

Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Moony's hand, was a cloaked figure. It's face was completely hidden beneath it's hood. I looked it up and down and instantly regretted it.

It was a Dementor

It drew in a cold, rattling breath, as though it was trying to suck something more than air from it's surroundings. An intense cold swept over all of us.

I felt my own breath catch in my chest, as the coldness seeped into my very heart. The worst images imaginable filled my head. I could hear screaming, screaming so loud I had to resist the urge to cover my ears.

Moony pointed his wand at the Dementor, as if he could threaten the creature. "None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go." he said, but the Dementor didn't move.

Moony pointed his wand at it, and muttered the words I knew as "Expecto Patronum," and a large silver lion erupted from his wand, driving the dementor away.

As soon as it left, the compartment temperature returned to normal and the lights flickered back on.

Harry's eyes rolled back in his head, and he slid off his seat, where he collapsed onto the floor. Both me and Ron kneeled down instantly next to him.

"Harry!" Ron said in panic. "Harry! Are you all right?"

I tapped Harry lightly on the side of the face.

"W - what?" He muttered, opening his eyes. Hermione was kneeling next to Ron, while Neville and Dad were watching. Harry looked like he wanted to throw up, and cold sweat was covering his face.

I heaved him back into his seat.

"Are you okay?" I asked, frowning at the strange boy.

"Yeah," said Harry, looking quickly towards the door. The Dementor had vanished. "What happened? Where's that - that thing? Who screamed?"

I gave him a blank look, while Ron said more nervously "no one screamed."

"But I heard screaming -"

A loud snap made everyone jump. Moony was pulling apart a giant slab of chocolate, and I almost grinned; Moony was a serious chocoholic, he never went anywhere without a peice of chocolate near him.

"Here," he said to Harry, handing him a large piece of the chocolate, also handing an enormous one to me. "Eat it. It'll help. I need to speak to the driver," he said, passing around chocolate to everyone else and crumpling the empty chocolate wrapper in his pocket. He turned to me. "You'd better change into your school robes."

I nodded, grabbing my robes out of my trunk before slipping out of the room, hurrying to the bathroom at the end of the corridor. I knew why he'd told me to go change; being brought up with a pack of vicious killers wasn't the best childhood. The screams I'd heard weren't just the deaths I'd witnessed, some were the deaths I'd helped to cause.

I took off my jacket, grabbing my robes and pulling them down over my black skull shirt and black jeans. They covered my hi tops, and I was glad the black robes matched my personal style, even if they were old ones. It wasn't Moony's fault he couldn't afford to buy me new robes or books, and I seriously didn't mind.

I splashed some cold water on my scarred face and looked in the mirror, gripping the edges of the sink. I looked up at my pale face, my hair hanging down in my gold and blue eyes.

I returned to the compartment shortly after, pleased to find Moony back in there. I was happy to see everyone had eaten their chocolate, and took a bite out of my own before putting my jacket in my trunk. Everyone else had changed into their own robes.

No one talked much the remainder of the journey. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmede station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats mewed, and a range of other animals made annoying noises that made my sensitive ears prick. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets.

"Firs' years this way!" called a booming voice, making me start. I turned to see a giant of a man, standing head and shoulders above everyone else in a thick coat with long hair and a beard, behind all the hair a friendly face lurked, with beetle black eyes. He was beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward towards the lake, and I followed.

"'Ello there," said the Giant man to me as I followed the first years down a steep, narrow path, which thick trees stood either side of. "Ye're a little old ter be a firs' year, aren' yeh?"

"I'm thirteen," I said with a grin. "It's my first year, I'm Jack Lupin."

He smiled suddenly.

"Ah," he said knowingly. "Professor Dumbledore told me abou' yeh, I'm Hagrid by the way, Rubeus Hagrid. Come on then."

None of the first years spoke much.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called back to the first years as I walked beside him. "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Ooooh!" from all the young students behind me.

Even I had to admit it was beautiful; the narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. I climbed into a boat with three anxious looking first years who kept shooting wary glances at me. I ignored them, staring up at the vast castle in fascination. "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself - well, I suppose of he didn't it'd sink. "Right then - FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over us as we sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

My hands were clamped down on the side of the boat as I gulped, surprised the wood hadn't broke yet. I hated traveling on water or in the air. Call it irrational, but I just hated it.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; everyone bent their heads and the little boats carried us through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. We were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until we reached a kind of underground harbor, where we clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

Then we clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, Oak front door.

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


	3. Talking Hats and Magic Food

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNISE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

The door swung open. A tall, black haired witch in emerald green robes stood there. She had a very stern face, and I figured I'd enjoy pranking her.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the mine and Moony's house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing us led to the upper floors.

We followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. I could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years and myself into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously while I stood with my back against the wall, not wanting to be near them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

I looked down at my old robes, running a hand through my hair as I did when I was nervous and running a finger down the scar on my face. _Great_, I thought sarcastically. _More people to stare at me._

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. I sighed, closing my tired eyes. The first years were chatting nervously with each other, the noise grating on my nerves as I focused on making my eyes blue.

Quite suddenly, several people screamed, making me start, reaching for my wand hidden in my sleeve.

The people around me gasped. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? We go through this every year - I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

"New students," I said in a monotone, causing the ghosts and first years to turn to me, some of them whispering to their neighbors at my appearance.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them before returning his overly-happy gaze on me. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

I nodded.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

I joined the very back of the line behind a girl with long, auburn hair who was fairly short compared to me, and followed them walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

I had never even imagined such a strange and cool place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. I glanced up at the enchanted ceiling. I was stood near the back again, leaning against the wall with a bored posture.

I quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

I noticed that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, and I stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing.

I ignored the song completely, only returning back down to earth when the Great Hall burst into applause. Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. I sighed as she called out the first name.

Halfway through, I snapped out of my mental stupor by the words "Lupin, Jack."

I stepped forward, walking over to the stool as muttering broke out in my wake, most likely about the scars coating my pale skin and age difference to the first years. I sat on the stool, and the hat descended on my eyes, blocking out the view of people craning their necks to get a good look at me.

_Well, well, well, what do we have here_? A small voice said in my head.

_Who's this_? I wondered. Then a thought struck me. _Never mind, I guess a talking hat shouldn't be a suprise._

_No, it's part of the sorting... You are very cunning I see... An excellent mind... I see you're not a normal wizard... No, you're much, much more..._

I was feeling uncomfortable, feeling the hat digging through my mind.

_Ah_, it said. _A Lycan, eh? No... The last Lycan. There is so much trauma in your past... Death... Blood... Murder. You have faced much, yet bravery is still strong in you... You'd better be in "_GRYFFINDOR_!"_

Slowly, I gave the hat to Professor McGonagall, who motioned to the clapping Gryffindor table. As I walked over to the table I heard a few mutterings and whispers, but I ignored them as I sat next to Ron, Harry and Hermione, who congratulated me. I looked up at the staff table; my Dad was beaming, while the man on the opposite end of the table, who had curtains of greasy black hair and a crooked nose, glared at me like I was the worst thing to happen to him with cold, black eyes. I glared at him for glaring at me, and turned back to the sorting.

When it was over, Professor McGonagall came and took the hat away. Professor Dumbledore stood up; though very old, he gave an impression of great energy. He had several feet of long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and an extremely crooked nose. He was often described as the greatest wizard of the age, and as watched him beaming around at the students, I knew he was respected by every one of them.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore said, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome, to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it is best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..." Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued. "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business. They are stationed at every entrance of the grounds, and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave the school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises - or even invisibility cloaks -" I caught Harry and Ron glancing at each other and smirked slightly "-It is not in the nature of the Dementor to understand pleading or excuses, I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the Prefects and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors." He said.

"On a happier note," he continued, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. Our first teacher is Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Everyone that was in the compartment with Moony clapped hard, everyone else either didn't clap at all, or clapped quietly. I sighed; Moony did look particularly shabby next to all the other teachers in their best robes, but I knew he didn't mind, and neither do I.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued, breaking me from my thoughts. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year to spend more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid! Who has agreed to take on his teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties." I saw Hermione, Ron and Harry exchange a stunned look, and they too, began clapping, which was tremendous at the Gryffindor table. "Now, I think that is everything of importance, let the feast begin!" Dumbledore finished.

The golden plates and golbets on the table suddenly filled with food and drinks. I couldn't help but inhale at the delicious scents swirling around me.

I grinned and filled my plate with as much food as I could put on it. Hermione gaped at me and I shrugged. "I eat like a fat kid." I explained, smiling.

She nodded, "Ron's the same way." she said. I looked over at Ron, and saw his plate was just as full as mine. He looked at me sheepishly and I laughed before looking down at my plate.

I love food. If I could marry food, I would.

When the feast was over, I joined the Gryffindors streaming up the marble staircase and, very tired now, along more corridors, up more and more stairs, to a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress who asked "Password?"

"Coming through, coming through!" a red head called from behind the crowd. "The new password's 'Fortuna Major!"

The portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. Everyone scrambled through it, and I found myself in Gryffindor Common Room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

I followed Harry and Ron up to the third year dormitories with two other boys and Neville. The room was complete with six four-poster beds and I took the one furthest away. The trunks had already been brought up.

I pulled off my robes and my jeans and shirt. I could feel the stares of my new roommates as I stripped down to my boxers before I climbed into bed, closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Hippogriffs and Skiving Divination

****ANYTHING YOU RECGONISE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING (am I going to have to do this for every chapter?)****

When I woke the next morning, it quickly became apparent I was late. Pretty late actually. The fact it had been the day after a full moon, became the apparent reasoning for my prolonged sleep.

I rolled out of bed, stretching and groaning. I grabbed my black jeans and t-shirt and threw my robes over the top. I slipped into my hi-tops and walked out of the dormitory, running a hand wearily through my hair as I did so.

I noticed the corridors were full, and checked the time; it was time for my second lesson. Apparently, someone loved me, because a copy of my timetable had been left on my bedstand. I wouldn't be surprised if my roommates had attempted to wake me up, but waking a sleeping werewolf was near impossible unless you knew how.

* * *

I followed my class into the transfiguration classroom, sitting at the back next to a gloomy looking Harry.

"Where have you been?" Ron asked as I sat down, running a hand through my hair again, most probably messing it up even further.

"Sleeping'" I said thickly through a yawn. The rest of the class kept shooting furtive glances at Harry, as though he were about to drop dead at any moment. I glanced at him; he seemed perfectly fine to me. What had I missed? I mean, no one even noticed when Professor McGonagall turned herself into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes right in front of us.

"Really, what had gotten into all of you today?" she said, turning back into herself... Fully clothed. God, I needed her to teach me how to do that; usually, when I transformed, my shirt was shredded in the process if I didn't concentrate enough. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."

Everybody's head turned toward Harry again, but nobody spoke. I was completely bewildered. Then, Hermione raised her hand.

"Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves and-"

"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say anymore, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

Everyone stared at her. And I was still confused.

"Me," said Harry, finally.

"Huh?" I asked, still completely confused.

"I see," said Professor McGonagall, fixing Harry with her beady eyes. "Then you should know, Potter, that Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them have died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues -"

She broke off, and we saw her nostrils had gone white. She went on, more calmly, "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney." she stopped again, and then said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "You look in excellent heath to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."

Hermione laughed and I grinned. Ron though, still looked worried, and a girl near the front whispered "What about Neville's cup?"

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When Transfiguration class had ended, we joined the class thundering towards the Great Hall for lunch. I did my best to avoid all the bodies of students around me; claustrophobia if you will.

"Ron, cheer up," said Hermione, pushing a dish of stew towards him as I ate my own. "You heard what Professor McGonagall said."

Ron spooned stew onto his plate and picked up his spoon, but didn't eat.

"Harry," he said, in a low, serious voice, "you haven't seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?"

"Yeah, I have," said Harry. "I saw one the night I left the Dursleys'."

Ron let his fork fall with a clatter.

"Probably a stray," said Hermione calmly.

Ron looked at Hermione as though he had gone mad, while I strayed off into my own thoughts. Moony had once told me about his friends' animagus forms; Peter, a rat, James, a stag, and Sirius, a black dog. Could Sirius possibly be stalking his Godson? Merlin, I hoped not.

I came back down to earth when Harry and Ron - Hermione had already left - got up from the table. I followed them, and we set off to our first Care of Magical Creatures lesson.

Ron and Hermione weren't speaking to eachother. I walked beside Harry in silence as we went down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the forbidden Forest, which I was itching to explore - the forest, not the hut.

Hagrid was waiting for us at the door of his hut. He stood in his moleskin overcoat, with Fang, his boarhound at his heels, looking impatient to start.

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as we approached

"Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"

He led us around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later we found ourselves outside some kind of paddock. There was nothing in there. "Everyone gather round the fence here!" he called. "That's it - make sure yeh can see. Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books -"

"How?" said the cold, drawling voice of some Slytherin prat.

"Eh?" said Hagrid.

"How do we open our books?" the boy repeated. He took out his copy The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. I saw many of the other students had done the same, using belts or bullclips. I pulled out my own copy; I'd tied it shut with a leather belt.

"Hasn' - hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" asked Hagrid, looking crestfallen. The whole class shook their heads. "Yeh've got ter stroke em," said Hagrid, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look..."

He took Hermione's copy and ripped off the sellotape that bound it. The book tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a giant forefinger down the spine and book shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" the Slytherin boy with a pale, pointed face and platinum blonde hair sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess!"

"I... I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione, who was stood next to me. I grinned, deciding I liked Hagrid a lot.

"Oh, tremendously funny!" said Mr. Slytherin-git-dude, and I had to clench my fist to stop myself punching him. "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Shut up!" I snarled under my breath at the same time Harry muttered "shut up Malfoy." So his name was Malfoy? What a stupid name.

"Righ' then," said Hagrid, who seemed to have lost his thread. "so... so yeh've got yer books an'... An' now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get em'. Hang on..." He strode away from us into the forest and out of sight.

"God, this place is going to the dogs," said Malfoy loudly. "That oaf teaching classes, father'll have a fit when I tell him -"

"Shut up!" I snapped at him. He turned to me.

"Or what?" he sneered.

"Or A) I'm going to rip your head off and B) What I just said."

A girl's "Oooooooooh!" caused me to stop and look around. Hagrid had returned with a dozen of the weirdest creatures I had ever seen; they had the bodies, hind legs and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings and heads of what I assumed was some sort of eagle. Everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid tethered the creatures to a fence inside a paddock.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Right - who wants ter go first?"

Everyone else took a step back. I took a step forward, grinning slightly. Hagrid beamed.

"Alrigh' then, Jack - let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."

I grinned, climbing over the fence and dropping easily to my feet.

Hagrid untied one of the chains and pulled a huge grey hippogriff over to the center of the paddock. The class on the other side seemed to be holding their breath.

"Easy now, Jack," said Hagrid quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink... Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much..."

I held me eyes open, never moving them a millimeter from the creatures orange eyes. Buckbeak had turned his great, sharp head and was staring at me with one feirce orange eye.

"Tha's it," said Hagrid. "Tha's it, Jack... Now, bow..."

I sank to my knees, not liking the fact that the back of my neck was now exposed to 'Buckbeak's' sharp beak.

I looked up after a few seconds. The hippogriff bent it's head down so it was nearly touching the ground. I smiled and rose.

"Well done, Jack!" said Hagrid, ecstatic - Hagrid knew I was a werewolf as soon as I'd said the name 'Lupin' on the first night; apparently, the staff had been informed of what I was, but not all of them were as excited as Hagrid. Go figure. "Right - yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

I walked right up to him, and stroked his beak several times. It was rough, but I liked the feel of it.

The whole class - except for the Slytherins - clapped and cheered. But, who needs them, I just touched a hippogriff, something to tick of my bucket list.

"Righ' then, Jack, I reckon he migh' let yeh ride him!"

I spun around to face Hagrid. "_What_?" I asked, wondering if he was kidding me.

Before I could protest, Hagrid lifted me up onto buckbeak's back.

"Whoa! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" I said, looking around for something to hold on to. "It's a flying horse... Thing. I don't think this is the best ideaaa!" I yelled as the hippogriff took off running once Hagrid had slapped it's hindquarters. I locked my arms around it's neck, desperatley hoping I wasn't pulling out any feathers.

I clamped my eyes shut as the wind rushed around me. Why had I agreed to this... Oh, that's right, I hadn't; Hagrid was just insane!

After a while, I began to enjoy myself. I opened my eyes as we flew back the way we came, smiling and removing one of my arms.

The forest got closer and once Buckbeak had landed again, I dropped off his back and stood there smiling slightly. The Hipogriff rubbed his giant beak against my cheek and I scratched his head softly.

"Good work Jack!" roared Hagrid as everyone cheered - except for Malfoy and his two cronies, who I'd been told were Crabbe and Goyle. "OK, who else wants a go?"

Emboldened by my success, the rest of the class climbed cautiously into the paddock. Hagrid untied the hippogriffs one by one, and soon people were bowing nervously, all over the paddock. Ron, Harry and Hermione practiced on the chestnut. It was hot out, so I had taken off my robes and hung them on a nearby tree, wearing my Muggle gothic-style clothing. Mixed with the scars along my arms and around my throat, I was getting some wary glances and I supposed the whispers were about my appearance.

"This is very easy," Draco Malfoy - Harry'd told me who he was - drawled, loud enough for everyone to hear, which they did, turning to look at him. He was stood in front of Buckbeak, patting his razor sharp beak. "I knew it must have been, if Lupin could do it... I bet you're not dangerous at all are you?" he said to the Hippogriff. "Are you, you ugly great brute?"

I knew what was going to happen before it did.

I sprinted the distance between me and Malfoy, shoving him out of the way. Buckbeak's talon's grazed his arm and I twisted, trying not to let him slice me open. His sharp claws sliced through my right shoulder and then across my forearm, blood spilling from the wounds. Something heavy - I suppose Buckbeak's wing - hit my head, making it throb and stars appear in front of my eyes.

I heard gasps, then everything went black.

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"Hey, it's about time you got here!" I said a while later as Harry, Hermione, Ron and my Dad entered the hospital wing where I was laying on a bed. "I've been listening to this git complain for the last fifteen minutes!" I pointed over at Draco, who sneered at me.

"Are you alright?" Moony asked me.

"Yes Dad, I'm fine, Madam Pomfrey fixed me up pretty well, but I have to stay in here for four days." I explained. It was true; I healed extremely fast, but Madam Pomfrey wanted to keep me for observation. There was also the issue with my blood; blood is red, right? No, I'm not thick, but my blood is kind of... Gold. Not shiny, glittering gold or anything, but it definitley shone in the sunlight. It wasn't easy to hide if I got a simple paper cut or anything, so I usually had to be careful.

We all talked for about five more minutes before Madam Pomfrey made them leave. They assured me they'd visit, and then I was left with Malfoy.

Wonderful.


	5. Snape's New Style

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNISE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

I left the hospital wing after a few days, the same time Draco did. He was such an annoying little prick; all he did was complain. He was healed, but had bandages on his arm. I had even more bandages, also on my shoulder. I'll admit, I had gotten hit pretty bad, but my rapid Werewolf healing had prevented Madam Pomfrey from giving me anything, and I was pretty much healed, yet I still had to wear a ton of bandages and a sling. Also, I couldn't wear my robes, so I was permitted to wear my black jeans and black shirt.

Madam Pomfrey allowed me to leave, and, oh joy, it was halfway through double potions, with Snape. I was actually glad to leave;hyperactive werewolf plus sitting still in a bed did not go well.

I sighed, walking through the dungeons. Malfoy was a way behind me, having been doing something in the hospital wing. As soon as I'd rounded the corner, I'd disposed of the stupid bandages and sling; it's not like I needed them!

I stalled outside Snape's door, sighed, and walked inside. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at me.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Lupin." Snape said, saying my name with absolute loathing. Oh joy. "May I ask why you have not been in class all week, and why you are late to my class?" he asked hatefully. I guess he hadn't gotten the memo.

"Well, I've been in the hospital wing all week, and just got out." I said plainly.

"And why are you not wearing the correct uniform?" he asked, loathingly.

"Well, frankly I can't be bothered."

"Ten points from Gryffindor, for being late." He said, giving me a glare that could give the one he saves for Harry a run for its money. "And Detention tomorrow at eight, for cheekiness."

I saluted him and sat in the empty seat on Harry's right; Harry, Ron and the other Gryffindors were stifling snorts at my behavior to Snape. Just as I sat down, Draco walked in, his arm covered in bandages and him staggering around like the survivor of some epic war. I could've sworn he didn't have that many bandages on when he left the Hospital wing. When he walked in, he just stood next to the girl with the pug face, Pansy, I think her name was, and you know what Snape said? Nothing. NOTHING! All he said was "Settle down." when they started talking.

"What! I get a fu -" Harry clamped a hand over my mouth before I could say anything else and get into more trouble. I licked his hand and he let go. "Eww. Gross." Harry said, wiping his hand on Ron's robes. Before he could complain, Malfoy sat down right beside Ron. I facepalmed, this was going to be a long day.

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Lunch passed quickly and mostly consisted of me wondering what kind of dark powers Snape must posses in order for him to have seen me fork him half way through the lesson and give me another detention... Jack-ass.

We sat down in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Moony wasn't here yet, so while everyone pulled their books and quills out of their bags, I left my stuff in my bag; knowing my Dad, he was doing a practical.

Moony came into the room, placing his old briefcase on the teacher's desk. "Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands." I grinned and relaxed in my seat as everyone else put their things back into their bags.

"Right then," said Moony, once everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me." We all got to our feet and followed him out the door, me walking next to him so I could talk to him.

"Hey Moony," I said as I caught up to him.

"Hey pup," he smiled at me. "How's your shoulder?"

"Perfectly fine," I said, rolling my eyes. We turned a corner and saw Peeves the Poltergeist. I had seen Peeves in the Hospital Wing, trying to put something in a bottle of Skele-grow, but Madam Pomfrey caught him and chased him out before he could put whatever was in there.

Peeves was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum. He didn't look up until me and Moons were two feet away, then broke into song. "Loony, Loony Lupins!" he sang. "Loony, Loony, Lupins, Loony, Loony, Lupins-"

Everyone looked quickly at Moony and I to see how we would take this; probably to their surprise, we were still smiling.

"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," Dad said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."

Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker, a bad-tempered, failed wizard who waged a constant war against the students and, indeed, Peeves. With his feline friend, Mrs. Norris - I swear that cat hates me just because I'm a dog, now that's plain racist!

However, Peeves paid no attention to Moony's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry.

My Dad gave a small sigh and took out his wand.

"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely."

He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi! "and pointed it at Peeves.

With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.

"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement.

"Thank you, Dean," said Moony, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?"

We set off again, the class looking at shabby 'Professor Lupin' with increased respect. This little thing made me smile. He led us down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door.

"Inside, please," said Moons, opening it and standing back.

The staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher.

Any guesses?

Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Moony came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this."

He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him like a particularly large bat. Ew. At the doorway he turned on his heel and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."

Neville went scarlet. I glared at Snape. God the guy was such a dick.

Moony had raised his eyebrows.

"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."

Neville's face went, if possible, even redder. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap. Ooh, Professor Moony keeping it real!

"Now then," said Moony, beckoning us all to the end of the room, where there was an old wardrobe. As he stood next to it, it gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall. "Nothing to worry about," said Moony, seeing as a few people had jumped back in alarm. "There's a boggart in there."

Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively.

"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Moony. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks - I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice.

"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?"

Hermione put up her hand.

"It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Moony, and Hermione glowed. "So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.

"This means," said Moony, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

"Er - because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?" Harry answered unsure.

"Precisely," said Moony, and Hermione put her hand down, looking a little disappointed. "It's always best to have com pany when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake - tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening."

I nearly smiled, remembering last summer when that occasion had occurred.

"The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing.

"We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please... Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" said the class together.

"Good," said Professor Moony. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."

The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows.

"Right, Neville," said Moony. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.

"Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," said Moony cheerfully.

Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."

Nearly everyone laughed. Even Neville grinned apologetically. Moony looked thoughtful.

"Professor Snape... hmmm... Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"

"Er - yes," said Neville nervously. "But - I don't want the boggart to turn into her either."

"No, no, you misunderstand me," said my Dad, now smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"

Neville looked startled, but said, "Well... Always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress... Green, normally... And sometimes a fox-fur scarf."

"And a handbag?" prompted Moony.

"A big red one," said Neville.

"Right then," said Moony. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"

"Yes," said Neville uncertainty, plainly wondering what was coming next.

"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees You, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," said Moons. "And You will raise your wand - thus - and cry 'Riddikulus' - and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag."

There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently. Oh, today was going to be a good day.

"If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Moony. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical..."

The room went quiet. I thought... 'What scared me most in the world?'

I'd seen a load of horrible things in my lifetime, but how could I pick just one to be afraid of? I didn;t know what scared me most, because all my fears were equally matched. I looked around. Many people had their eyes shut tight. Ron was muttering to himself, "Take its legs off."

"Everyone ready?" said Moony.

Everyone else was nodding and rolling up their sleeves. Harry looked like he definitely wasn't ready, but I just took out my dark red wand from my back pocket and sighed.

"Neville, we're going to back away," said Moony. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward... Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot-"

We retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.

"On the count of three, Neville," said Moony, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One - two - three - now!"

A jet of sparks shot from the end of his wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.

Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.

"R - r - riddikulus!" squeaked Neville.

There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. There was a roar of laughter as the rest of the class joined me; the boggart paused, confused, and Moony shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"

Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising -

"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati.

A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

"Seamus!" roared Moony.

Seamus darted past Parvati.

Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face - a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that made the hair on my head stand on end - 'Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus.

The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone.

Crack! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then - crack!- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before - crack! - becoming a single, bloody eyeball.

'It's confused!" shouted Moony. "We're getting there! Dean!"

Dean hurried forward.

Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab.

"Riddikulus!" yelled Dean.

There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.

"Excellent! Ron, you next!"

Ron leapt forward.

Crack!

Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly. For a moment, I thought Ron had frozen. Then -

"Riddikulus!" bellowed Ron, and the spider's legs vanished; it rolled over and over; Lavender Brown squealed and ran out of its way and it came to a halt at Harry's feet. He raised his wand, ready, but

"Here!" shouted Moony suddenly, hurrying forward. Crack!

The Spider had vanished. For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where it was. I saw the full moon hanging in the air in front of Moony, who said, "Riddikulus!" almost as lazily.

Crack!

"Forward, Neville, and finish him off!" said Moony as the boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach. Crack! Snape was back. This time Neville charged forward looking determined.

"Riddikulus!" he shouted, and we had a split seconds view of Snape in his lacy dress before Neville let out a great "Ha!" of laughter, and the boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was gone.

"Excellent!" cried Moony as the class broke into applause. "Excellent, Neville. Well done, everyone... Let me See... Five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the boggart - ten for Neville because he did it twice... And five each to Hermione and Harry."

"But I didn't do anything," said Harry.

"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry," Dad said lightly. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me... To be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

Talking excitedly, the class left the staffroom. I stayed behind as Moony closed the cupboard door.

"You know what," I said as he turned around. "Why don't you just announce you're a werewolf at breakfast? I mean, a full moon? Could you be any more obvious?"

He just laughed.


	6. Potions and Missing Portraits

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNISE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

Not much happened for a while; Defense Against the Dark Arts was everyone's favorite class, Snape bullied me in his lessons worse than ever, giving me detention after detention - the first one I had to organize his cupboards, the second I had to clean the floors, and by the fifth, I was just writing lines. Hagrid's classes on the other hand, were extremely dull and boring. He had lost his confidence and we were now looking it Flobberworms, the most boring creatures on the planet.

And for the past two months, I would follow Moony to the Shrieking Shack and help him transform. Even though I could shift at will, I still needed the wolfsbane potion to keep under control, seeing as I would get a bad tempered and irritable when the moon was full.

Now, it was the start of October, and Hermione, Ron and I were in the Gryffindor common room working on Astronomy homework - extremely dull and boring - and waiting for Harry to come back from Quidditch practice.

Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room cold and stiff but looked pleased with the way practice had gone. "What's happened?" He asked us.

"First Hogsmeade weekend," said Ron, pointing at a notice that happened to be on the battered old bulletin board. "End of October. Halloween."

"Excellent," said Fred, who had followed Harry through the portrait hole. "I need to visit Zonko's. I'm nearly out of Stink Pellets." Harry threw himself into a chair beside Ron, his smile fading away.

Hermione seemed to read his mind. "Harry, I'm sure you'll be able to go next time," she said. "They're bound to catch Black soon. He's been sighted once already."

Did they still think Sirius was out to kill Harry? I mean, Pads was Harry's Godfather! And I considered him to be my sort-of-uncle.

"Black's not fool enough to try anything in Hogsmeade," said Ron. "Ask McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry. The next one might not be for ages -"

"Ron!" said Hermione. "Harry's supposed to stay in school -"

"He can't be the only third year left behind," said Ron. "Ask McGonagall Harry -"

"Yeah, I think I will," said Harry, making up his mind. Hermione opened her mouth to argue but at that moment Crookshanks leapt lightly onto her lap. A large, dead spider dangling from his mouth.

"Harry, if you can't go, you know I'm staying behind anyway, so you shall be anti-social no more." Harry smiled appreciatively at me.

"Does he have to eat that in front of us?" said Ron scowling.

"Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?" said Hermione. Crookshanks slowly chewed up the spider, his yellow eyes fixed innocently on Ron. I almost laughed' I think the cat was doing it on purpose.

"Just keep him over there, that's all," said Ron irritably, turning back to his star chart. "I've got Scabbers in my asleep in my bag."

I reached over to pet Crookshanks, but instead of letting me pet him, he bit me.

"Ow! Fuck!" I yelled, examining my hand. Blood seeped out of the small wound and I shoved my hand in my pocket before anyone could see the shimmering blood, throwing an insulted and dirty look at the cat.

Fred was trying to control his laughter. I glared at him.

George laughed while Hermione looked apologetic."Oh, dear. Bad Crookshanks! Is your hand okay, Jack?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm perfectly fine," I said, getting up. "Cat's don't like me though, stupid fluffy fucking little son of a -"

A hand clamped over my mouth, and I turned my glare on Fred.

"Language, Lupin," he said, smirking at me.

I sighed. Why is it when I finally get friends they're all mental?

**LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK **

As usual, Harry and Ron woke me up the next day and attempted to persuade me to go to Divination. And, as usual, I refused. I went to breakfast with them and noticed that Ron and Hermione weren't talking, and that Ron kept sending Hermione glares. Whoa. What did I miss?

After breakfast was over I went back to the dorm and fell asleep again, dreading when I would have to wake up and go to Herbology.

I woke up about 45 minutes later, and quickly took a shower and got dressed in my shirt and trousers, throwing my robes over the top. Ron barely talked to Hermione all through Herbology, even though we were working together on the same puffapod.

"How's Scabbers?" Hermione asked timidly as we stripped fat pink pods from the plants and emptied the shining beans into a wooden pail.

"He's hiding at the bottom of my bed, shaking." said Ron angrily, missing the pail and scattering beans over the greenhouse floor.

"Careful, Weasley, careful!" cried Professor Sprout as the beans burst into bloom before our eyes.

I told Ron he was being stupid and Hermione was trying to be nice to him. He apparently didn't listen to what I had to say, he only accused me of not caring about Scabbers either and became just as pissy with me as he was with Hermione.

We had Transfiguration next. Harry decided he was going to ask McGonagall if he could go to Hogsmead, and was talking to me about how he should present his case. We were distracted, however, by a disturbance at the front of the line. Lavender Brown seemed to be crying. Pavati had her arm around her, and was explaining something to Seamus and Dean, who were looking serious.

"What's the matter, Lavender?" Hermione asked anxiously as she, Harry, Ron and I went to join the group.

"She got a letter from home this morning," Pavati whispered. "It's her rabbit, Binky. He's been killed by a fox."

"Oh," said Hermione, "I'm sorry Lavender."

"I should have known!" said Lavender tragically. "You know what day it is?" I swear if she says something about Professor Trelawney and her bullshit I'm not listening.

"The sixteenth of October! 'That thing you're dreading, it will happen on the sixteenth of October! Remember? She was right, she was right!" And, tune her out.

I wondered aimlessly why both her first and last names were colours when the class went into McGonagall's classroom. When we got into class, we seated ourselves either side of Harry, me and 'Mione on one side and Ron on the other. Everyone was quiet during the whole lesson.

"One moment please!" Professor McGonagall called as the class made to leave. "As you're all in my House, you should hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. No form, no visiting the village, so don't forget!"

Neville put up his hand. "Please Professor, I - I think I've lost-"

"Your grandmother sent me yours directly Longbottom," said Professor McGonagall. "She seemed to think it was safer. Well, that's all, you may leave."

"Ask her now," Ron hissed at Harry, and I nodded my head at him.

"Oh. But -" Hermione began.

"Go for it Harry," said Ron stubbornly.

**LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK **

On Halloween morning, I awoke with the rest and went down to breakfast, Harry looked thoughorly depressed, though he was doing his best to act normally. He had not been permitted to go to Hogsmead, but I would be staying at the castle with him.

"We'll bring you lots of sweets back from Honeydukes," said Hermione, looking desperately sorry for him. "Yeah, loads," said Ron. He and Hermione had finally gotten over their squabble in the face of Harry's difficulties.

"And I'm staying here with you." I said happily. I could feel the full moon approaching, and was doing my best to keep my mood swings in check.

"Don't worry about me," said Harry. "I'll see you at the feast. Have a good time."

Harry and I accompanied them to the entrance hall, where Filch, the caretaker, was standing inside the front doors, checking off the names against a long list.

"Staying here Potter? Lupin?" shouted Malfoy, who was in the line with Crabbe and Goyle. "Scared of passing the Dementors." Of course, we ignored him.

"Password?" said the Fat Lady, jerking out of a doze as we reached the portrait.

"Fortuna Major," said Harry listlessly. The portrait swung open and we climbed through the hole into the common room. It was full of chattering first and second years, and a few older students, who had obviously visited Hogsmeade so often the novelty had worn off.

"Harry! Harry! Hi, Harry!" It was Colin Creevy, a second year and Harry's personal stalker. "Aren't you going to Hogsmeade, Harry? Why not? Hey" - Colin looked eagerly around at his friends, who were staring at my scarred appearance in wonder - "You and your friend can come and sit with us, if you like, Harry!"

"Er - no, thanks, Colin," said Harry, "W-we've got to go to the library, got to get some work done." After that, we had no choice but to turn right around and head back out of the portrait hole again.

"What was the point in waking me up?" the Fat Lady called grumpily after us as we walked away.

"I LIKE ANNOYING YOU!" I yelled back at her before we turned a corner. Harry and I wandered toward the Library, but halfway there, we turned around and came face-to-face with Filch.

"What are you doing?" Filch snarled suspiciously.

"Nothing," Harry said truthfully, and for once, I can say for me too.

"Nothing!" spat Filch. "A likely story! Sneaking around on your own - why aren't you in Hogsmeade buying stink pellets and Belch Powder and Whizzing Worms like the rest of your nasty little friends. I shrugged. "Well, get back to your Common Room where you belong!" snapped Filch, and he stood glaring until Harry and I had passed out of sight.

But we didn't go back to the Common Room; we climbed a staircase, I didn't know where we were going, I was just following Harry.. We were walking along a corridor when a voice from inside one of the rooms said, "Harry? Jack?"

We doubled back to see who had spoken and met Moony, looking around his office door. "What are you doing?" he asked, though in a very different voice from Filch. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"Hogsmeade." said Harry in a would-be-casual voice.

"Ah," said Moony. He considered us for a moment. "Why don't you come in? I've just taken a delivery of a grindylow for our next lesson"

"A what?" asked Harry

We followed Moony into his office. In the corner stood a very large tank of water, with a weird and freaky looking thing in it; it was sickly green, with sharp little horns and had it's face pressed up against the glass and flexing it's long, spindly fingers.

Charming.

"Water demon," said Moony, surveying the Grindylow thoughtfully. "We shouldn't have much difficulty with him, not after the Kappas. The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers? Strong, but very brittle."

The Grindylow bared its green teeth and then buried itself in a tangle of weeds in a corner.

"Cup of tea?" Moony said, looking around for his kettle. "I was just thinking of making one."

"All right," said Harry awkwardly.

"Sure," I said.

Moony tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of steam issued suddenly from the spout.

"Sit down," said Moony, taking the lid off a dusty tin. "I've only got teabags, I'm afraid - but I daresay you've had enough of tea leaves?" He said to Harry. Ugh, not more of this Divination crap.

Harry looked at him. Moony's eyes were twinkling.

"How did you know about that?" Harry asked.

"Professors know all..." I said mysteriously.

"Professor McGonagall told me," said Moony, passing Harry and me a chipped mug of tea and giving me an amused glare. "You're not worried, are you?"

"No," said Harry.

Insert awkward silence here.

"Anything worrying you, Harry?" Moony asked.

"No," Harry lied. He drank a bit of tea and watched the Grindylow brandishing a fist at him. "Yes," he said suddenly, putting his tea down on Moony's desk. "You know that day we fought the Boggart?"

"Yes," said Moony slowly.

"Why didn't you let me fight it?" said Harry abruptly.

Moony raised his eyebrows.

"I would have thought that was obvious, Harry," he said, sounding surprised.

"Why?" he said again.

"Well," said my Dad, frowning slightly, "I assumed that if the Boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort."

"Clearly, I was wrong," said Moony, still frowning at Harry. "But I didn't think it a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in the staffroom. I imagined that people would panic."

"I didn't think of Voldemort," said Harry. "I - I remembered those Dementors." Huh, who knew.

"I see," said Moony thoughtfully. "Well, well... I'm impressed." He smiled slightly at the look of surprise on Harry's face. "That suggests that what you fear most of all is - fear. Very wise, Harry."

I could tell Harry didn't know what to say to that, so he drank some more tea.

"So you've been thinking that I didn't believe you capable of fighting the Boggart?" said Moony shrewdly.

"Well... yeah," said Harry. He was suddenly looking a lot happier. "Professor Lupin, you know the Dementors -"

He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," called Moony.

The door opened, and in came none other Snape. He was carrying a goblet, which was smoking faintly - ugh, Wolfsbane - and stopped at the sight of Harry, his black eyes narrowing.

"Ah, Severus," said Moony smiling. "Thanks very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?"

Snaperus set down the smoking goblet, eyes wandering between Harry and Moony.

"I was just showing Harry and Jack my Grindylow," said Dad pleasantly, pointing at the tank.

"Fascinating," said Snape, without looking at it. "You should drink that directly, Lupin."

"Yes, Yes, I will," said Dad.

"I made an entire cauldron full," Snape continued. "If you need more."

"I should probably have some again tomorrow. Thanks very much, Severus."

"Not at all," said Snape, "If I knew Jack would be here, I would have brought along another goblet."

"Jack, why don't you go back with Severus to his classroom, so that you can take your potion as well?" Moony suggested. I gave him my infamous 'are you fucking kidding me' look.

"Go on." he encouraged. I gave him an annoyed glare, but followed Snape out the room.

We walked in silence. As usual before taking the potion, my emotions were all over the place as we walked. I was tempted to laugh, crack a joke and hit Snape all at the same time, so I cleared my mind, which took a lot of effort.

It was working. As we entered his room, I saw four students, all from Gryffindor, were sitting in there, obviously in detention. I nodded at them as Snape led the way to his desk, and I followed closely, glaring at his back.

"Here!" Snape spat, shoving a smoking goblet at me with a glare. "Drink it and get out of my sight." Someone got out of the wrong side of the bad cave this morning.

I took the goblet from him and saw my fellow Gryffindors giving me looks that plainly said 'don't drink it!' I shrugged and downed the horrible potion in one.

"Ugh," I said, shuddering at the taste and wiping my mouth. I coughed once. "That's disgusting."

I placed the goblet on the table and said in my most sarcastic tone "thank you for giving me that delightful drink Professor, it was delicious."

"Get out." Snape said seethingly.

"Gladly," I spat, walking back the way I came and slamming the door behind me, jogging to the Gryffindor Common room. Once outside, the potion began to take effect and I calmed down considerably. I groaned; Snape was going to kill me.

"Fortuna Major." I said to the Fat Lady. She just glared at me.

"What the - let me in!" I said, an incredulous smirk on my face.

"No," she said. "You like annoying me."

"Are you serious? Let me in," I said, she ignored me. I rolled my eyes, then banged my fists on her portrait, yelling "CAN SOMEONE OPEN THE DOOR! LIKE, NOW!"

After about ten seconds of me banging on the door and yelling, Fred opened it.

"Thanks Fred, the Fat Lady hates me." I said. He nodded his head at me with a smirk on his face and went over to George. I looked around the common room, spotting Harry, Ron and Hermione, sitting by the fire. As I walked over to them, I heard Ron say, "Lupin drank it? Is he mad?"

"Lupin drank what?" I asked curiously. Ron jumped about a foot in the air.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Jack!" Ron yelled, smacking my arm. To which Hermione smacked Ron, telling him not to hit people, which started an argument. I rolled my eyes and turned to Harry. "So, Harry, like I was saying, what did Lupin drink?"

"Erm - the goblet Snape gave him. I think it might have been poisoned or something... You didn't drink any did you?" Harry said worriedly. It took all I had not to laugh at him.

"Of course I drank some, Harry." This ended Ron and Hermione's bickering.

"What? Are you nuts?" Ron asked me.

"Of course I am, Ron." I said calmly. "But that's not the point here. The potion is completely safe. Even though Snape is a dick, he wouldn't poison me or my Dad. No matter how much he may have wanted to."

Ron looked at me skeptically, when Hermione interrupted him. "Wed better go down, you know, the feast'll be starting."

We hurried through the portrait hole and into the crowd; they were all still discussing Snape. I was tuning them out: I knew I had nothing to worry about.

We reached the entrance hall and crossed into the Great Hall. It had been decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats, and many flaming orange streamers, which were swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling like brilliant watersnakes.

The food was delicious; even Hermione and Ron, who were full to bursting with Honeydukes sweets, managed second helpings of everything. Harry kept glancing at the staff table at my Dad, and also at me, as if we might drop dead at any moment, but Moony looked cheerful and as well as he ever did; he was talking animatedly to tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher. I moved my eyes along the table, to the place where Snape sat. Snape shot me a glare, which I returned.

I ate as much as I could. If I didn't have a werewolf metabolism, I'd probably have trouble making it up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

The feast finished with an entertainment provided by the Hogwarts ghosts. They popped out of the walls and tables to do a bit of formation gliding; Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, had a great success with a reenactment of his own botched beheading.

It had been such a pleasant evening that our good mood couldn't even be spoiled by Malfoy, who shouted through the crowd as we all left the hall, "The Dementors send their love, Potter!"

Me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors along the usual path to Gryffindor Tower, but when we reached the corridor that ended with the portrait of the Fat Lady, we found it jammed with students.

"Why isn't anyone going in?" said Ron curiously. I peered over the heads in front of me. The portrait seemed to be closed. Hmm... Maybe the Fat Lady wasn't letting anyone in because of me?

I feel special.

"Let me through, please," came Percy's voice, and he came bustling importantly through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password - excuse me, I'm Head Boy -"

And then a silence fell over the crowd, from the front first, so that a chill seemed to spread down the corridor. They heard Percy say, in a suddenly sharp voice, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."

People's heads turned; those at the back were standing on tiptoe.

"What's going on?" said Ginny, who had just arrived. A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward the portrait; the Gryffindors squeezed together to let him through, and me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved closer to see what the trouble was.

"Oh, my -" Hermione grabbed my arm.

The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely. Oh, I guess that means it's not my fault.

I feel less special.

Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined painting and turned, his eyes somber. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Professor McGonagall, Snape and Moony rushing to Dumbledore.

"We need to find her," said Dumbledore. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."

"You'll be lucky!" said a cackling voice.

It was Peeves the Poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd and looking delighted, as he always did, at the sight of wreckage or worry.

"What do you mean, Peeves?" said Dumbledore calmly, and Peeves's grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore. Instead he adopted an oily voice that was no better than his cackle. "Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily. "Poor thing." he added unconvincingly.

"Did she say who did it?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Oh yes, Professorhead," said Peeves, with the air of one cradling a large bombshell in his arms. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

"Fuck." I muttered.


	7. Full Moon and Dyslexia

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

The school talked of nothing but Sirius for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott, from Hufflepuff, spent much of their next Herbology class telling anyone who'd listen that Black could turn into a flowering shrub. That's the stupidest thing I'd ever heard.

The Fat Lady's ripped canvas had been taken off the wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat gray pony. Nobody was very happy about this. Not Even me. I thought it would be easier to get into the common room with a new portrait. Boy was I wrong! Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging people to duels, and the rest thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he changed at least twice a day.

"He's a complete lunatic," said Seamus Finnigan angrily to Percy. "Can't we get anyone else?"

"None of the other pictures wanted the job," said Percy. "Frightened of what happened to the Fat Lady. Sir Cadogan was the only one brave enough to volunteer."

Sir Cadogan, however, was the least of my worries.

That night, I walked to the entrance hall after telling my friends I was going to visit my sick grandmother - I didn't even have a grandmother as far as I knew.

Moony, Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore came round the corner, and I stretched my arms above my head.

"You ready, Moons?" I asked my Dad. God, he looked dead on his feet. "Come on buddy," I said, helping him walk.

Once inside the shrieking shack, Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey left for their own safety after showing me where extra clothes and a first aid kit was.

Then, we were waiting.

One word for the transformations would be hard, physically and emotionally. I stood facing the wall. I could hear Moony behind me, exhausted but fidgety, making his exhaustion worse. The Wolfsbane potion would make him docile. He would be less animalistic, but still animal.

A scream from behind me made me jump, and I knew it had began. I winced as more screams and sickening snaps sounded from behind me. I closed my eyes, trying to block it out, but it wasn't working. Moony's screams reached a new pitch, and he was screaming and screaming as though being tortured. I gritted my teeth, this was the worst thing - my dad, in pain.

The last of Moony's screams cut off and turned into vicious snarls, and I finally turned around.

A huge wolf stood there in all its silver glory. Its gold eyes were closed at the moment, and it's limbs were shaking from the aftershock. Clothes were shredded all over the floor, and fresh claw marks indented the dusty wood.

"Moony," I said, crouching down. The werewolf opened its eyes, and seemed to recognize me. "It's alright, it's over now."

I sat down with my back against the wall, and the Moony wolf padded cautiously over to me. He sniffed me, and seemed to recognize a pack member and licked my cheek. I grinned and wiped my face.

For hours, me and Moony messed around. Sometimes, he would howl and scratch the walls, wanting to get out, but the wolf didn't try and harm itself as it had done on numerous occasions.

In the early hours of the morning, Moony curled up at my side. I scratched the werewolf's head, and he fell asleep. I leant against its side, the rythmatic beating of its loud heart lulling me into a dreamless sleep.

**** LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK ****

I woke up with skin pressed against my side.

Opening my eyes, I was greeted by the dark and depressing walls of the Shrieking Shack. I was nearly coated in dust from the floor, and Moony's arm was draped over me and he was obviously asleep. I groaned and rolled out from under my father's arm, coating myself in more dust.

I threw a blanket over Moony's sleeping form. It would be a long time before he woke up, but I needed to get ready.

I was tired and aching from the position I'd been sleeping in, and - thank you enhanced healing - the bruises I had obtained the previous night were quickly fading.

I told sir Cadogan his ridiculous password, and dragged myself into the boys bathroom. It was probably about five in the morning - way too early for me - so I pulled off my dust covered and torn clothes, and threw them in the corner before hopping in a large bath.

Eventually, it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and when I walked in, I wasn't surprised to see Snape there and not Moony. I supposed he was still asleep.

About ten minutes into the class, Harry came in. Not clever.

"This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we'll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down." said Snape.

But Harry didn't move.

"Where's Professor Lupin?" he said.

"He says he is feeling too ill to teach today," said Snape with a twisted smile. What an asshole. "I believe I told you to sit down?"

But Harry stayed where he was.

"What's wrong with him?"

Snape's black eyes glittered. Why did he always have to glitter his eyes?

"Nothing life-threatening," he said, looking as though he wished it were. As I have said before: Dickhead. "Five more points from Gryffindor, and if I have to ask you to sit down again, it will be fifty."

Harry walked slowly to his seat and sat down. Snape looked around at the class.

"As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far -"

"Please, sir, we've done Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas, and Grindylows," said Hermione quickly, brave kid, "and we're just about to start -"

"Be quiet," said Snape coldly. "I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization." Dick. Head.

"He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had," said Dean Thomas boldly, and there was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the class. I grinned at Dean. Snape looked more menacing than ever.

"You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you - I would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and Grindylows. Today we shall discuss -"

I watched him flick through the textbook, to the very back chapter.

"- werewolves," said Snape.

Dick.

"But, sir," said Hermione, seemingly unable to restrain herself, "we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start Hinkypunks -"

"Miss Granger," said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, "I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page 394." He glanced around again. "All of you! Now!"

With many bitter sidelong looks and some sullen muttering, the class opened their books.

"Which of you can tell me what is the difference between an animagus and a werewolf?" said Snape.

Everyone sat in motionless silence; everyone except Hermione, whose hand, as it so often did, had shot straight into the air. Brave girl.

"Anyone?" Snape said, ignoring Hermione. His twisted smile was back. "How disappointing."

"Please, sir," said Hermione, whose hand was still in the air, "an Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal, a werewolf has no choice. With each full moon when he transforms he no longer remembers who he is, he'd kill his best friend if he crossed his path. Furthermore the werewolf only responds to the call of its own kind."

Snape turned to Hermione. "That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger, five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all."

Hermione went very red, put down her hand, and stared at the floor with her eyes full of tears. I glared at Snape with as much menace as I could muster. It was a mark of how much the class loathed Snape that they were all glaring at him, because every one of them had called Hermione a know-it-all at least once, and Ron, who told Hermione she was a know-it-all at least twice a week, said loudly, "You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?"

The class knew instantly he'd gone too far. Snape advanced on Ron slowly, and the room held its breath. I grinned, you tell him Ronald.

"Detention, Weasley," Snape said silkily, his face very close to Ron's. "And if I ever hear you criticize the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed."

Everyone began to read, and I just sat there, head in my hands, thinking about drifting off to sleep -

"Lupin!" Snape's sharp voice made my jump, looking up.

"What?" I asked, sleep coating my voice.

"Tell me, Lupin," He said, looking at the closed book in front of me. "Can you read?"

Many of the Slytherins snickered, but I looked up at him.

"No." I said, making everyone look at me. "No, I can't. I'm dyslexic."

He obviously didn't know what to say to that, and he turned his back on my, walking back up the room. Everyone was giving me odd glances, but I ignored them, pressing my palms into my eye sockets.

No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. We sat and made notes on werewolves from the textbook - well, I wrote a load of bull shit- while Snape prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work we had been doing with Moony.

"Very poorly explained... That is incorrect, the Kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia... Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn't have given it three..."

When the bell rang at last, Snape held us back.

"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves-" Bastard "-I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Weasley, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention."

Me, Harry and Hermione left the room with the rest of the class, who waited until they were well out of earshot, then burst into a furious tirade about Snape.

"Snape's never been like this with any of our other Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, even if he did want the job," Harry said to me and Hermione. "Whys he got it in for Lupin? D'you think this is all because of the Boggart?"

I didn't say anything.

"I don't know," said Hermione pensively. "But I really hope Professor Lupin gets better soon..."

"He will..." I muttered.

Ron caught up with us five minutes later, in a towering rage.

"D'you know what that -" (he called Snape something that made Hermione say "Ron!" and me give him a high five) "- is making me do? I've got to scrub out the bedpans in the hospital wing. Without magic!" He was breathing deeply, his fists clenched. "Why couldn't Black have hidden in Snape's office, eh? He could have finished him off for us!"

Hmm, now there's an idea.

"Jack," Hermione asked suddenly, making me turn to look at her. "Did you mean what you said in class? Can't you read?"

"Nope," I said easily.

It was true; I hadn't actually been educated before I'd met Moony, and even after that it was hard, seeing as I suffered from Dyslexia; it never bothered me though, it was only mild, and gave me an excuse not to read a lot.


	8. A Sirius Situation

****AS USUAL, ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING (If you haven't got that by now, you're an idiot.) ****

January faded into February and Hermione still wasn't talking to Ron or Harry. Or maybe it was the other way round? I don't know... I was getting more and more detentions with Snape as the days passed. That might have to do with the fact that I was a smart ass towards him, but it could also be 'cause he's jealous of my epic potion making skills.

"Bye, 'Mione!" I called as I walked out of the Common Room to detention with Snaperus.

"Try not to blow anything up this time, Jack!" she yelled back.

"No promises!" I yelled before the portrait closed.

"Come back here and fight you scoundrel!" Sir Cadogan yelled at my retreating back.

"I will later weird man and fat pony!" I said as I jogged away. I walked by Harry and Ron on my way there, they looked really happy about something.

I got to the potions class in ten minutes and walked right in. Snape was used to this by now. "You will scrub the floors without magic." he said without looking up from his paper.

"Again?" I growled, trying to keep my temper in check.

"Yes! You know where everything is." He snapped. I sighed and walked to the closet in the back corner of the room, grabbing a couple of sponges, soap and a bucket.

I walked to the sink and filled up the bucket with water. I carried it to the door and into class - thank you werewolf strength - and deposited it on the floor, getting to my hands and knees and scrubbing.

I was about a quarter of the way done when someone else walked into the room. I didn't bother to look up and see who it was. "You will be rearranging potion ingredients. The cabinet is over there, Mister Malfoy."

Oh joy.

At the end of the Detention, I was held back by Snape, who gave me a goblet of the Wolfsbane potion. I shuddered as it went into my system, and once I'd downed it, I left, my emotions coming back to me and becoming my own.

****LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK ****

Today was the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw Quidditch mach, but I didn't feel like going. Mostly because I'm lazy.

I didn't bother going to classes that day, as I said, I'm lazy. I'd also gotten permission from McGonagall, seeing as the potion - having the effects it had - also made me feel like crap and I had a strong urge to sleep all the time.

Once I did get out of bed, I decided to go to the Great Hall to get some food. "I hope there's still food I can eat." I mumbled on my way there. When I got to the Great Hall, it was completely devoid of people, and there was only one plate of food on the Gryffindor table.

Yey, somebody cares about me! I thought happily as I ran to the food.

"Hmm... I hope this isn't poisoned." I muttered sarcastically, poking at the food with a fork. I decided to risk it, and started to eat the pancakes.

Once I was finished, I walked out of the Great Hall, looking for something to do. Everyone else was at the Quidditch match. I decided to wait in the common room for everyone to come back.

When I got to the common room, I sat down on one of the couches. Everyone came back cheering and yelling a few hours later, so I guess we won. The party went on all day and well into the night. Fred and George disappeared for a couple of hours and returned with armfuls of bottles of butterbeer, pumpkin fizz, and several bags of Honeydukes sweets.

****LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK ****

"AAARRGGHH! NOOO!" I woke suddenly, to the sound of someone yelling.

"I SWEAR TO GOD THIS BETTER BE IMPORTANT! I NEED SLEEP DAMMIT!" I yelled, and I could've sworn I heard someone laugh. I pulled back the hangings of my four poster to see someone running out the dormitory. I leapt out of bed, wearing only my black pajama pants and sprinted after whoever it was.

I skidded into the common room just in time to see the portrait close.

Harry, Ron, and a few other boys sprinted down the boys dormitory stairs. Doors opened behind them, and sleepy voices called after them. "Who shouted?" "What are you doing?" The common room was lit with the glow of the dying fire, still littered with debris from the party.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?" Oh, so it was Ron who woke me up. Dick.

"I'm telling you, I saw him!" Saw who? Barney? "What's all the noise?" "Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!" A few of the girls had come down their staircase, pulling on dressing gowns and yawning, also staring at me, I realized my scarred back and torso were on display for all to see. Wonderful. Boys too, were reappearing.

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" said Fred Weasley brightly.

"Everyone back upstairs!" said Percy, hurrying into the common room and pinning his Head Boy badge to his pajamas as he spoke.

"Perce - Sirius Black!" said Ron faintly. Oh, he saw Sirius, not Barney. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!" The common room went very still. I sniffed the air. Ron was telling the truth; the scent of Sirius gently lingered in the air, along with the scent of dog.

"Nonsense!" said Percy, looking startled. "You had too much to eat, Ron - had a nightmare -"

"I'm telling you -"

"Now really, enough's enough!" McGonagall was back. She slammed the portrait behind her as she entered the common room and stared furiously around. She looked incredibly pissed off! "I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't organize this, Professor!" said Percy, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare -"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

Whoa, I guess I shouldn't be mad at him for screaming about that.

Professor McGonagall stared at him. "Don't be ridiculous Weasley, how could he possible have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"I'm putting an end to this," I said, holding my hand up. I walked out the portrait hole, McGonagall following closely behind. "Sir cadogan," I began. "Did you let a man enter the Gryffindor Tower a few minutes ago?"

"Certainly, good sir," he said.

There was a stunned silence.

"Y-you did?" said Professor McGonagall. "But - but the password!"

"He had 'em" said Sir Cadogan proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

I walked back through the portrait hole, yawning. Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face us. She was white as chalk.

"Which person," she said, her voice shaking. "Which abysmally foolish person wrote down this weeks passwords and left them lying around?"

There was utter silence, broken only by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbotton, trembling from head to fluffy slippered toes, raised his hand slowly into the air.

"Silly Neville." I muttered.

****LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK ****

No one in Gryffindor tower slept that night. We knew the castle was being searched again, and the whole House stayed awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether Sirius had been caught. McGonagall came back at dawn, to tell us he had escaped again. (I know I should be disappointed about that, but I was pleased.)

Sir Cadogan had been fired. His portrait had been taken back to the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady was back. She had been expertly restored, but was still extremely nervous, and had agreed to return on the condition she be given extra protection. A bunch of surly security trolls had been hired to guard her. They paced the corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunts and comparing the size of their clubs.

I grunted at them once, and they attacked me.

Neville was in total disgrace. Prof Mag - what I was now calling McGonagall - was so furious she had banned him from all future Hogsmeade visits, given him detention, and forbidden anyone to give him the password into the tower - which I still did anyway.

Because I'm nice.

Nice_ish_.


	9. I Bet it Was Those Bloody Pancakes

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

There was another Hogsmeade trip on Saturday, but I didn't want to go; I needed to catch up on a lot of homework, and the dizzy spells I'd recently been having hadn't stopped; I didn't want to be walking around if they kept happening. I stayed up in the common room doing homework most of the day, until I couldn't stand being up there any longer and the letters were swirling around the page.

I walked out of the common room, and wondered around the castle, somehow ending up in the dungeons. I heard Snape arguing with who sounded like Harry, so I stopped.

"So!" said Snape, "Is this another treasured gift from Mr. Weasley? Or is it - something else? A letter, perhaps, written in invisible ink? Or - instructions to get into Hogsmeade without passing the dementors... Lupin, get in here."

Shit, I forgot he possesses dark powers. I sighed and opened the door. Snape pointed to a seat next to Harry and I sat myself in it.

"Let me see, let me see..." He muttered, taking out his wand and smoothing the one and only Marauder's map out on his desk. Ahhh crap. "Reveal your secrets!" he said, touching the wand to the parchment.

Nothing happened.

"Show yourself!" Snape said, tapping the map sharply.

It stayed blank. Good.

"Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!" Snape said, hitting the map with his wand. Master of this school? He wishes.

Words appeared on the smooth surface of the map; "_Mr Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business_"

Snape froze, Harry was staring at the map dumbstruck, and I was in hysterics. But the map didn't stop there. More writing was appearing beneath the first. "_Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git_." And there was more "_Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor_" "_Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape a god day, and advises him to was his hair, the slimeball_."

I was still in hysterics when Snape said softly "so... We'll see about this..." He threw a fistful of glittering powder from a jar on the fireplace into the flames. "Lupin!" he called. "I want a word!"

I stared at the fire. A large shape had appeared in it, revolving very fast. Seconds later, Moony was clambering out of the fireplace, brushing ash off his shabby robes.

"You called, Severus?" said Moons mildly.

"I certainly did," said Snape, his face contorted with fury as he strode back to his desk. "I have just asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this."

Snape pointed at the parchment, on which the words of Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs were still shining. A closed expression appeared on Moony's face. This cannot be good. Where did Harry get that map?

"Well?" said Snape.

Moony continued to stare at the map. I knew that my Dad was doing some very quick thinking.

"Well?" said Snape again. "This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter got such a thing?"

Moony looked up and, by the merest half-glance in Harry's direction, warned him not to interrupt.

"Full of Dark Magic?" he repeated mildly. "Do you really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who reads it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I imagine Harry got it from a joke shop -"

"Indeed?" said Snape. His jaw had gone rigid with anger. "You think a joke shop could supply him with such a thing? You don't think it more likely that he got it directly from the manufacturers?"

Moony made was wearing a faked confused look. He was a manufacturer, so was Harry's Dad. And Sirius Black, the escaped convict. Things were not looking good.

"You mean, by Mr. Wormtail or one of these people?" he said. "Harry, do you know any of these men?"

"No," said Harry quickly. Well, he did, but he didn't know it.

"You see, Severus?" said Lupin, turning back to Snape. "It looks like a Zonko product to me -"

Right on cue, Ron came bursting into the office. He was completely out of breath, and stopped just short of Snape's desk, clutching the stitch in his chest and trying to speak.

"I - gave - Harry - that - stuff," he choked. "Bought - it... In Zonko's... Ages - ago..."

Good Ron! God, when he wanted, he had freaking perfect timing!

"Well!" said Moony, clapping his hands together and looking around cheerfully. "That seems to clear that up! Severus, I'll take this back, shall I?" He folded the map and tucked it inside his robes. "Harry, Ron, Jack, come with me, I need a word about my vampire essay - excuse us, Severus -"

We weren't walking long before I got another dizzy spell, except this time, it didn't go away. I stumbled a bit, blinking rapidly and trying to stop the blurring in my eyes, and Moony stopped walking.

"Jack? Are you okay?" he asked, concern lacing his tone.

"Umm, yeah, I'm fine." I said, shaking my head and starting to walk again. Before I could make it more than a foot, I felt like something was lodged in my throat and I gagged, putting one hand on my knee to keep me up and the other clutching my throat.

"Jack!" Moony said in alarm as Harry and Ron raced back to me. I choked for air again, before I blacked out.

* * *

"Is he going to be okay?"

"What happened?"

"Is he dead?"

These were a few of the things I heard when I woke up... Sorta. It was weird; I could hear, feel and smell things, but I couldn't move, no matter how hard I tried.

Oh, great.

"If you two would quit bickering I'll answer your questions about Jack!" Madam Pomfrey barked at Ron and Hermoine, who were arguing. Typical. That seemed to shut them up. Good thing too, 'cause I want to find out what happened to me too. Ten Galleons those pancakes I ate were fucking poisoned. "Thank you. He got some sort of poison into his system." At this, I heard a very feminine gasp. I bet it was Ron.

"Is he going to be alright?" asked Moony.

"Yes. But he won't be waking up for a long time. How long exactly, I cannot tell. But I predict it won't be until after the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match at the earliest. The poison in his system isn't enough to kill him. Whoever did this obviously didn't know he was a-" she cut herself off there. Hmm... Lycan's are less allergic to things? Sweet.

"Anyway, the point is he'll be fine. He'll be in here for a while, but he won't die." Madame Pomfrey said, changing the subject. "Now, all of you are to leave except for Professor Dumbledore and Professor Lupin." Dumbledore? How many people are in here exactly?

"But-"

"No buts Mr. Potter. Now leave, all of you!" she said sternly.

I heard about ten pairs of feet walking away from my bed. Damn, people like me. When I heard the door to the Hospital Wing close, Madam Pomfrey started to talk

"I'm going to get straight to the point. Someone tried to kill him. Had he not been as strong as he is, they would have succeeded. I believe the person knew exactly what they were doing, but didn't know what Jack actually is, so they didn't give him the right amount of poison to kill him." Madam Pomfrey said.

Moony gave a strangled cry, and Dumbledore sighed.

"Do you think it was Black?" Madam Pomfrey asked, her voice significantly lower.

"I do not believe so, no." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Do you have any theories as to who it might be?" Pommy asked.

"Many, Poppy" - Damn -"each of them as unlikely as the next."

"Well, at the very least, he needs to be protected while he's in here, and should have an escort once he wakes up and I find him to be in well enough condition to leave." If I could've groaned, I would have. I don't need an escort!

"I couldn't agree more, Poppy." Dumbledore said. Moony had stayed quiet during most of the conversation, but now he started to talk.

"Who will be watching him while he's here? And what precautions will be made?" He asked.

"I will stay in here with her tonight, Remus. Tomorrow I can see about getting an old friend of mine to stay with him until he wakes." Dumbledore said kindly. "Now, you should go get some sleep. I'll watch over him, my friend."

Moony's footsteps came over to my bed and he squeezed my shoulder. "Sleep well." he said, before thanking Dumbledore and leaving the Hospital Wing


	10. The Things I Stumble Upon

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

The next few weeks passed apologizingly slow. The old friend of Dumbledor's turned out to be some Auror by the name of Kingsley Shacklebolt. He seemed cool.

Harry, Ron and Hermione - who had finally made up, Hallelujah! - came and visited me every day. The told me about Buckbeak's execution, that depressed me. Also, Hermione had hit Draco. Damn, I'd missed it.

I woke up three days before exam week. Of course, Madam Pomfrey flipped out when I finally woke up, fretting all around, asking me what hurt and a bunch of other questions. She'd sent Kingsley to go fetch my Dad and Dumbledore. Eventually, Hermione, Ron and Harry had made their way to see me, along with a few other people.

"Will he be out in time to take exams?" Hermione asked. Of course, Hermione would ask about exams. And, of course, I was out in time for exams. Kingsley was my escort around school, but, like I said, he's cool.

We had Potions that afternoon, which was an unqualified disaster. Try as I might, I couldn't get my Confusing Concoction to thicken, and Snape, standing watch with an air of vindictive pleasure, scribbled something that looked suspiciously like a zero onto his notes before moving away. Bastard.

Then came Astronomy at midnight, up on the tallest tower; History of Magic on Wednesday morning, in which I scribbled everything Kingsley whispered in my ear - like I said, he's cool. Wednesday afternoon meant Herbology, in the greenhouses under a baking-hot sun; then back to the common room once more, with a sunburnt neck, thinking longingly of this time next day, when it would all be over.

Our second to last exam, on Thursday morning, was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Moony had compiled the most unusual exam any of us had ever taken; a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where we had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish our way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a Hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a new Boggart.

"Excellent, Jack," Moony muttered as I climbed out of the trunk, brushing myself down. It had taken a while for me to get rid of my boggart, as it kept changing forms, but it ended okay. "Full marks."

Harry was after me, and ended up with full marks as well.

Flushed with success, me and Harry hung around to watch Ron and Hermione. Ron did very well until he reached the Hinkypunk, which successfully confused him into sinking waist-high into the quagmire. Hermione did everything perfectly until she reached the trunk with the Boggart in it. After about a minute inside it, she burst out again, screaming.

"Hermione!" said Moony, startled. "What's the matter?"

"P-P-Professor McGonagall!" Hermione gasped, pointing into the trunk. "Sh-she said I'd failed everything!"

It took a little while to calm Hermione down. When at last she had regained a grip on herself, me, her, Harry, and Ron went back to the castle. Ron was still slightly inclined to laugh at Hermione's Boggart, and I was still laughing, but an argument was averted by the sight that met us the top of the steps.

Cornelius Fudge, sweating slightly in his pinstriped cloak, was standing there staring out at the grounds. He started at the sight of Harry.

"Hello there, Harry!" he said. "Just had an exam, I expect? Nearly finished?"

"Yes," said Harry. Me, Hermione and Ron, not being on speaking terms with the Minister of Magic, hovered awkwardly in the background.

"Lovely day," said Fudge, casting an eye over the lake.

"Pity...pity..."

He sighed deeply and looked down at Harry.

"I'm here on an unpleasant mission, Harry. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of a mad Hippogriff. As I needed to visit Hogwarts to check on the Black situation, I was asked to step in."

"Does that mean the appeal's already happened?" Ron interrupted, stepping forward.

"No, no, it's scheduled for this afternoon," said Fudge, looking curiously at Ron.

"Then you might not have to witness an execution at all!" said Ron stoutly. "The Hippogriff might get off!"

Before Fudge could answer, two wizards came through the castle doors behind him. One was so ancient he appeared to be withering before our very eyes; the other was tall and strapping, with a thin back mustache. I gathered that they were representatives of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, because the very old wizard squinted toward Hagrid's cabin and said in a feeble voice, "Dear, dear, I'm getting too old for this... Two o'clock, isn't it, Fudge?"

The black-mustached man was fingering something in his belt; I looked and saw that he was running one broad thumb along the blade of a shining axe. I gulped. This man would have dealt with Lycans and werewolves before, and would know one when he saw one.

As if reading my thoughts, the man turned towards me, running a thumb along the axe like he was just waiting for the order to cut my head off. I saw Fudge look at me too, surprise then irritation on his features.

Nice to know I'm loved.

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione nudged him hard in the ribs and jerked her head toward the entrance hall.

"Why'd you stop me?" said Ron angrily as we entered the Great Hall for lunch. "Did you see them? They've even got the axe ready! This isn't justice!"

"Ron, your dad works for the Ministry, you can't go saying things like that to his boss!" said Hermione, but she too looked very upset. "As long as Hagrid keeps his head this time, and argues his case properly, they can't possibly execute Buckbeak..."

But I could tell Hermione didn't really believe what she was saying. All around us, people were talking excitedly as they ate their lunch, happily anticipating the end of the exams that afternoon, but me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, lost in worry about Hagrid and Buckbeak, didn't join in.

Mine, Harry's and Ron's last exam was Divination; Hermione's, Muggle Studies. We walked up the marble staircase together; Hermione left us on the first floor and me, Harry and Ron proceeded all the way up to the seventh, where many of our class was sitting on the spiral staircase to Professor Trelawney's classroom, trying to cram in a bit of last-minute studying.

"She's seeing us all separately," Neville informed us as we went to sit down next to him. He had his copy of Unfogging the Future open on his lap at the pages devoted to crystal gazing. "Have either of you ever seen anything in a crystal ball?" he asked them unhappily.

"Nope," said Ron in an offhand voice. He kept checking his watch; I knew that he was counting down the time until Buckbeak's appeal started.

"Don't worry Neville, I've never even been to one of her classes before!" I laughed.

The line of people outside the classroom shortened very slowly. As each person climbed back down the silver ladder, the rest of the class hissed, "What did she ask? Was it okay?"

But they all refused to say.

"She says the crystal ball's told her that if I tell you, I'll have a horrible accident!" squeaked Neville as he clambered back down the ladder toward Harry and Ron, who had now reached the landing.

"That's convenient," snorted Ron. "You know, I'm starting to think Hermione was right about her" - he jabbed his thumb toward the trapdoor overhead - "she's a right old fraud."

"Yeah," said Harry, looking at his own watch. I looked at it too; it was now two o'clock. "Wish she'd hurry up..."

Parvati came back down the ladder glowing with pride.

"She says I've got all the makings of a true Seer," she informed Harry and Ron. "I saw loads of stuff...Well, Good luck!"

"Bullshit!" I called to her as she hurried off down the spiral staircase toward Lavender.

"Ronald Weasley," said the familiar, misty voice from over their heads. Ron grimaced at Harry and climbed the silver ladder out of sight. Me and Harry were now the only people left to be tested. He settled himself on the floor with his back against the wall as I sat opposite him.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, Ron's large feet reappeared on the ladder.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked him, standing up.

"Rubbish," said Ron. "Couldn't see a thing, so I made some stuff up. Don't think she was convinced, though..."

"Meet you in the common room," Harry muttered as Professor Trelawney's voice called, "Harry Potter!"

Harry climbed the staircase, and I was left alone. Well, not really alone, since I had Kingsley watching me.

Harry came down 25 minutes later looking extremely confused.

"Er, Harry?" I asked.

"Huh? What?" he asked.

"Umm, you alright?" I asked. His eyes flickered to Kingsley, then back to me.

"Yea, I'm fine." He said, making it clear he'd tell me later.

"Okay," I said, and he walked off.

"Jack Lupin." a misty voice called. I sighed and started up the staircase.

"You know, I haven't been to any of these classes." I informed Kingsley as I walked up.

"Sorry, can't help you there, Pup, I was never good at Divination." Kingsley said.

"Aw man." I muttered, opening the door.

"Ah, hello dear, take a seat." Professor Trelawney said. I sat down across from her. "Look into the ball. What do you see?"

I looked into the ball and saw... Nothing. Okay, time to improvise.

"I see a, um, a centaur... Teaching... Divination in the future." I told her.

"Really?" she asked, looking too. "Oh my! You're right dear!" she exclaimed.

"I am?" I asked, before correcting myself. "I mean, of course I am!"

"You can go now. Very good." she said as Kingsley and I climbed down the staircase.

Once I got all the way down the ladder, I fell to the floor laughing.

"You had no idea what you were saying, did you?" Kingsley asked.

"Nope, none at all." I got out between laughs. Once I was done laughing, Kingsley escorted me to Moony's room, and with a "see you later, pup", headed to Dumbledore's office.

"Hey Moons," I said, walking into the room. Moony was sitting at his desk, grading papers.

"Hey, pup," Moony said to me with a smile while I rolled my eyes; his nickname for me had finally caught on, and many of the people who knew about what I was, had taken to calling me it. "You okay? No murder attempts today?"

"Nope, none at all," I said, sitting myself down on the chair next to his. Damn fucking pancakes.

We sat there for a while, Moony grading things while chatting idly to me. If we were close before the incident with the poison, it was nothing compared to now; we had shared so much in the hours alone that I felt Moony knew me better than I knew myself, and vise versa. He'd told me about the incident with Sirius, and I had told him there may be more to the story than he knew of. I knew Sirius was innocent, and I knew Dad did too.

"Hey, Moony," I said after a while. "Can I see the map? I wanna check on something."

"Sure Pup," he said, tossing me the old piece of tattered parchment. I caught it easily, brought out my wand and tapped the parchment, muttering "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

"What are you checking on?" he asked.

"Harry, Ron and Hermione," I said. "Hagrid's hippogriff is being executed tonight, I'm almost positive they're gonna go to comfort him.

Lines connected themselves across the parchment, and in no time, it was the Marauders Map of Hogwarts. I looked for Hagrid's cabin, and saw, as I knew they would be, Ron, Harry and Hermione inside.

I grinned and put the map in front of me as Moony and me talked aimlessly again. Being poisoned didn't give me much freedom, but hopefully, after the holidays, Moony'd see I was fine and no one was going to attempt to kill me.

After about twenty minutes, I checked the map once more.

"That's impossible," I breathed, staring at the map in awe. "Dad, I think you should come see this..."

Moony rushed around and stood behind me.

There, one the map leaving Hagrid's cabin, were Ron, Hermione and Harry, also accompanied by another dot. A dot labeled 'Peter Pettigrew'

"No..." Said Moony in awe. "It must be malfunctioning."

"You said it yourself," I argued. "The map never lies."

We both stared back at the map.

"Whoa, hold on!" I said suddenly, noticing a fifth dot. "There... Who -"

There was another dot on the map, moving fast towards the four. A dot labeled 'Sirius Black'

"Padfoot..." I muttered. We watched as Sirius dragged two of them into the Whomping Willow. Ron and Peter. "Shit!"

"Come on!" said Moony. I jumped up from my seat and followed him out of his classroom. I knew that route well; it was the route we took every month when Moony had to transform, and it led right into the shrieking shack.

Me and Moony made it to the tree in record time, but no one was here.

"Dammit!" I snarled as Moony levitated a tree branch. He pressed the knot on the side of the tree with it, and the massive tree instantly became immobile.

"This is not good," I muttered as we ducked into the small tunnel. Moony led the way, and I stuck close to his heels, my hands shaking slightly from all the built up tension. "So not good..."

After what seemed like ages, we made it to the room. It was covered in dust, with the furniture mangled with pieces gnawed out from them... Ah, memories.

Our footsteps were loud but muffled as I led the way through the house. I couldn't smell them, as the old scents of the room made it impossible to tell what smell belonged to what time. I shouldn't try to smell and walk, because it ended in me walking into an old mangled rocking chair.

"WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione's voice suddenly screamed from upstairs. "WE'RE UP HERE - SIRIUS BLACK - QUICK!"

Me and Moony raced up the stairs towards the sound of Hermione's panicked voice. I blasted the door open and we stepped into the room, wands raised.

Hermione was standing in the center of the room, looking scared and shocked, Ron was sitting on the bed, his leg twisted at an odd angle and his breathing ragged, suggesting the limb was broken, Harry was still frozen, wand poised, aimed at Sirius, who was on the floor and looked like he had just had the shit kicked out of him, his shoulder length black hair messy and his skin pale and stretched over his thin face, and Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, on Sirius's chest, laying protectively on him.

Oh, the things I stumble upon when hoping to stumble upon something.

"Expelliarmus!" Moony shouted, and the wands left their masters and flew across the room, where I caught them.

I looked around the room; Hermione, Ron and Harry were stunned - Hermione less so than the other two. Ron still holding a struggling Scabbers - or Peter.

"Where is he, Sirius?" Moony asked suddenly. I shook my hair out of my eyes.

For a moment, the only sound was Scabbers. Then, Sirius raised a hand to point at Ron. Everyone turned to look at him.

Ron was holding a squeaking Scabbers in his hands, but there was no sign of Peter Pettigrew. Then, it clicked; the rat was Peter, the rat was missing a toe (the only thing they ever found of Pettigrew was his finger.)

"Professor," Harry interrupted loudly, "what's going on -" He never finished the question, because me and Moony walked over to Padfoot, seized his hands and pulled him to his feet so that Crookshanks fell to the floor, and Moony embraced Padfoot like a brother.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hermione screamed.

Moony let go of Sirius and then turned to her. She had gone to stand by Harry, and was pointing at Moony and me, wide-eyed. "You - you -"

"Hermione -"

" - You and him!"

"'Mione, calm down -"

"I didn't tell anyone!" Hermione shrieked. "I've been covering up for you -"

"Hermione, listen to me, please!" Moony said. "I can explain -"

"I trusted you," Harry shouted at me and my Dad. "and all this time, you've been his friends!"

"You're wrong," Moony said calmly. "We haven't been Sirius's friends, but we are now - let me explain..."

"NO!" Hermione screamed. "Harry, don't trust them, they've been helping Black get into the castle, they want you dead too - they're werewolves!"

I gave her a surprised and praising glance. How long had she known? I looked from Hermione, to Moony, who was calm.

"Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione," he said. "Only one out of three, I'm afraid. We have not been helping Sirius into the castle, and we certainly don't want Harry dead..." An odd shiver passed over his face. "But I won't deny that we're werewolves."

I resisted the urge to put up my hand and say 'erm, half werewolf.'

Ron made a valiant effort to get up again but fell back with a whimper of pain. Moony made toward him, looking concerned, but Ron gasped,

"Get away from me, werewolf!"

I rolled my eyes and turned to Hermione and said, "How long have you known?"

"Ages," she whispered, "Since I did Professor Snape's essay..."

"He'll be delighted," Moony said coolly. "He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what our symptoms meant... Did you check the lunar chart and realize that we were always ill at the full moon? Or did you realize that the boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"

"Both,"

I laughed.

Moony said "You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."

"I'm not. If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!"

"But they already know. At least, the staff do."

"Dumbledore let you here when he knew you were werewolves?" Ron gasped, "Is he mad?"

"Yup," I said, trying to ease the tension.

Needless to say it didn't work.

"Some thought so, he had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that we're trustworthy -"

"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!" He was pointing at Sirius, who suddenly crossed to the four-poster bed and sank onto it, his face hidden in one shaking hand. Crookshanks leapt up beside him and stepped onto his lap, purring. Ron edged away from them both, dragging his leg.

"We have not been helping Sirius," I said. "If you'll give us a chance, we'll explain. Look-"

I separated their wands and threw them to their owners while placing mine back in my pocket.

"There," Moony said, sticking his own wand into his belt. "You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?"

"If you haven't been helping him," Harry said, "how did you know he was here?"

"The map, The Marauder's Map. We were in my office examining it -"

"You know how to work it?"

"Of course I know how to work it, I helped write it. I'm Moony - that was my friends' nickname for me at school."

"You wrote-"

"The important thing is, Jack was watching it carefully this evening, because he had an idea that you, Ron and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his hippogriff was executed. And he was right, wasn't he?"

He started pacing.

"You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry -"

"How d'you know about the cloak?"

"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it... The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you will show up on the Marauder's Map. Jack watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid's, and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by someone else."

"What? No we weren't!"

"I couldn't believe my eyes, I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us!"

"And then we saw another dot, moving fast towards you, labeled Sirius Black... We saw him collide with you; and watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow -"

"One of us!" Ron said angrily.

"No, Ron. Two of you." he stopped his pacing and looked over at Ron. "Do you think I could have a look at that rat?"

"What? What's Scabbers got to do with this?"

"Everything, could I see him, please?"

Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop his escaping. Crookshanks stood up on Sirius's leg and made a soft hissing noise.

Moony moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers.

"What?" Ron asked again. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"

"That's not a rat." Croaked Sirius suddenly.

"What d'you mean - of course he's a rat -"

"No, he's not," Moony said quietly, "He's a wizard."

"An Animagus," I said.

"By the name of Peter Pettigrew." Sirius finished.


	11. We Find Out The Truth

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

I went over to sit next to Sirius on the four-poster bed.

Ron voiced what they were all obviously thinking. "You three are mental."

"Ridiculous!" said Hermione faintly.

"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" said Harry. "He killed him twelve years ago!" he pointed at Sirius, whose face twitched convulsively.

"I meant to," he growled, his yellow teeth bared, "but little Peter got the better of me... Not this time, though!"

And Crookshanks was thrown to the floor as Sirius lunged at Scabbers; Ron yelled in pain as Sirius's weight fell on his broken leg.

"Sirius, NO!" me and Moony yelled simultaneously, jumping forwards and dragging Sirius away from Ron again, "WAIT! You can't just do it like that - they need to understand - we've got to explain -"

"We can explain afterwards!" snarled Sirius, trying to throw us off. One hand was still clawing the air as it tried to reach Scabbers, who was squealing like a piglet, scratching Ron's face and neck as he tried to escape. "They've - got - a - right - to - know - everything!" Moony panted, still trying - with my help - to restrain Sirius. "Ronald's kept him as a pet! There are parts even I don't understand, and Harry - you owe Harry the truth Sirius!"

Sirius stopped struggling, though his hollowed eyes were still fixed on Scabbers, who was clamped tightly in Ron's bitten, scratched, and bleeding hands.

"All right then," Sirius said as I sat back on the bed. "Tell them what you like, but make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for..."

"You're nutters, the three of you," said Ron shakily, looking round at Harry and Hermione for support. "I've had enough of this. I'm off."

He tried to heave himself up on his good leg, but I raised my wand again, pointing it at Pettigrew.

"You're going to hear us out, Ron," I said quietly. "Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen."

"HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!" Ron yelled, trying to force the rat back into his front pocket, but Scabbers was fighting too hard; Ron swayed and overbalanced, and Harry caught him am pushed him back down to the bed. Then, ignoring Sirius, Harry turned to Moony.

"There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die," he said. "A whole street full of them..."

"They didn't see what they thought they saw!" said Sirius savagely, still watching Scabbers struggling in Ron's hands. Was this confusing or what?

"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," said Moony, nodding. "I believed it myself - until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's map never lies... Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry."

Harry looked down at Ron, and as their eyes met, I think I had an idea of what they were thinking.

Then Hermione spoke, in a trembling, would-be calm sort of voice, as though trying to will Moony to talk sensibly.

"But Professor Lupin... Scabbers can't be Pettigrew... It just can't be true, you know it can't..."

"Why can't it be true?" Moony said calmly, as though we were in class, and Hermione had simply spotted a problem in an experiment with Grindylows. I hated them things.

"Because... Because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework - the Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things... And I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list."

I barely had time to marvel inwardly at the effort Hermione put into her homework, when Moony started to laugh.

"Right again, Hermione!" he said. "But the Ministry never knew that here used to be three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts."

"If you're going to tell them the story, get a move on, Remus," said Padfoot, who was still watching Scabbers's every desperate move. "I've waited twelve years, I'm not going to wait much longer."

"All right... But you'll need to help me, Sirius," said Moony, "I only know how it began..."

Moony broke off. There had been a loud creak behind him. The bedroom door had opened of its own accord. All six of us stared at it. Then Moony strode toward it and looked out into the landing.

"No one there..."

"This place is haunted!" said Ron. Oh Ronald, how naive you are..

"It's not,' said Moons, still looking at the door in a puzzled way. I kept watching it too."The Shrieking Shack was never haunted... The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me."

He pushed his graying hair out of his eyes, thought for a moment then said, "That's where all of this starts - with my becoming a werewolf, None of this could have happened if I hadn't been bitten... And if I hadn't been so foolhardy..."

He looked sober and tired. Ron started to interrupt, but Hermione, said, "Shh!" She was watching Moony very intently. I gave him a sympathetic look.

"I as a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but there is no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week, preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform...I'm able to curl up in here, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again." I gave him a smile before he continued. "Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, however, I became a fully fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me.

"But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said that as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn't come to school..." Moony sighed, and looked directly at Harry. "I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I came to Hogwarts. This house" - Moony looked miserably around the room, - "the tunnel that leads to it - they were built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous."

The only sound apart from Moony's voice was Scabbers's frightened squeaking.

"My transformations in those days were - were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumor... Even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it...

"But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black... Peter Pettigrew... And, of course, your father, Harry - James Potter."

"Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her... I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you, Hermione, worked out the truth..." I spared my three friends a glance before looking back at Moony.

"And they didn't desert me at all. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times of my life. They became Animagi."

"My dad too?" said Harry, astounded.

"Yes, indeed," said Moony. "It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong - one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."

"But how did that help you?" said Hermione, sounding puzzled.

"They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals," said Moony. I smiled. "A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James's Invisibility Cloak. They transformed... Peter, as the smallest, could slip beneath the Willow's attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them."

"Hurry up, Remus," snarled Padfoot, who was still watching Scabbers with a horrible sort of hunger on his face.

"I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there... Well, highly exciting possibilities were open to us now that we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Sirius and James transformed into such large animals, they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade than we did... And that's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Wormtail. James was Prongs."

"What sort of animal -?" Harry began, but Hermione cut him off. "That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?"

"A thought that still haunts me," said Moony heavily. "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless - carried away with our own cleverness. I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course... He had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed..."

Moony's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. I frowned. "All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me... And Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it... So, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."

"Snape?" said Sirius harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers for the first time in minutes and looking up at Moony. "What's Snape got to do with it?"

"He's here, Sirius," said Moony heavily. "He's teaching here as well." He looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons...you See, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me -"

Sirius made a derisive noise.

"It served him right," he sneered. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to... Hoping he could get us expelled..."

"Severus was very interested in where I went every month." Moony told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "We were in the same year, you know, and we - er - didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch field... Anyway Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be - er - amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it - if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf - but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was..."

"So that's why Snape doesn't like you," said Harry slowly, "because he thought you were in on the joke?"

"That's right," sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Moony.

Hermione screamed. Sirius leapt to his feet. I swore and Harry jumped.

Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing directly at Moony's chest, and if I hadn't feared for my Dad's safety, I would have knocked him out myself.

"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," said Snape, throwing the cloak aside, careful to keep his wand pointing at Moony. "Very useful, Potter, I thank you..." Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of suppressed triumph. "You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" he said, his eyes glittering. "I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a couple of gobletfuls along. And very lucky I did... Lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight." Wait, let's backtrack here, we didn't take our potion tonight... Oh this was not good.

"Severus -" Moony began, but Snape overrode him. "I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof -"

"Brilliant Snape," said Sirius as I got up and stood next to him, keeping my eyes on Snape. "Once again you put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion. Now if you'll excuse us, Remus and I have some unfinished business to attend to-"

Snape pointed his wand at Sirius and me instead, but Moony was still not sure of what to do.

"Severus don't be a fool-" said my Dad, stepping forward nervously.

"He can't help it it's habit by now." I said as Snape's wand pointed at me.

"Jack, be quiet!" said Moony.

"Be quiet yourself Remus!" said Sirius, glaring at Snape.

"Three more for Azkaban tonight," said Snape, his eyes now gleaming frantically. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this... He was quite convinced you two were harmless, you know, Lupin... Tame werewolves -"

"You fool," said Moony softly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"

BANG! Thin, snake-like cords burst from the end of Snape's wand and twisted themselves around Moony's mouth, wrists and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move.

Before I had the chance to move, he pointed his wand at me and did the same spell, cords wrapping around me like they had Moony. After I was tied up, he pointed his wand at Sirius's face. "Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will." Sirius stopped dead.

Hermione took an uncertain step toward Snape and said, in a very breathless voice, "Professor Snape - it-it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?"

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape spat. "You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and two werewolves. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

"But if-if there was a mistake -"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, suddenly looking quite deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few spark shot out of the end of his and, which was still pointed at Sirius's face. Hermione fell silent. "Vengeance is very sweet," Snape breathed at Sirius. "How I hoped I would be the one to catch you..."

"The joke's on you again, Severus," Sirius snarled. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle" - he jerked his head at Ron - "I'll come quietly..."

"Up to the castle?" said Snape silkily. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black... Pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay..."

What little colour there was in Sirius's face left it. "You-you've got to hear me out," he croaked. "The rat - look at the rat -" But there was a mad glint in Snape's eye that I have never seen before. He seemed beyond reason. "Come on, all of you," he said. He clicked his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound me and Moony zoomed into his hands. "I'll drag the werewolves. Perhaps the dementors will have a kiss for them too -"

Oh... Not good...

Harry had crossed the room and in three strides blocked the door.

"Get out of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble already," snarled Snape. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin -"

"Jack could have killed me about a hundred times this year," Harry said. "I've been alone with him loads of times. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?"

"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works," hissed Snape. "Get out of the way, Potter."

"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Harry yelled. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN -"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape yelled, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black - now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY POTTER!"

Before Snape could even take one step,Harry had raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled - except his wasn't the only voice that had shouted. There was a blast that made the door rattle on it's hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing out from under his hair. He had been knocked out.

Awesome.

"You shouldn't have done that," said Sirius, looking at Harry. "You should have left him to me..."

"We attacked a teacher... We attacked a teacher..." Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape with frightened eyes. "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble -"

Moony was struggling against his bonds. Sirius bent down quickly and untied him, before doing the same to me. We straightened up, I was rubbing my arms where the ropes had cut into them.

"Thank you, Harry," Moony said.

"I'm still not saying I believe you," he told my Dad.

"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Moony. "You, boy - give me Peter, please. Now." Boy? His name was Ronald.

Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest.

"Come off it," he said weakly. "Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean..." He looked up at Harry and Hermione for support, "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat - there are millions of rats - how's he supposed to know which one he is after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"

"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," I said, turning to Padfoot and frowning slightly. "How did you find out where he was?"

Sirius put one of his hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat and held out to show the us.

It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.

"How did you get this?" Moony asked Sirius, dumbstruck.

"Fudge," said Padfoot. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy's shoulder... I knew him at once... How many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts... To where Harry was..."

"My God," said Moony softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. "His front paw..."

"What about it?" said Ron defiantly.

"He's got a toe missing," I said in a low voice.

"Of course," Moons breathed. "So simple... So brilliant... He cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed," said Sirius. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself - and sped down into the sewer with the other rats..."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Moony. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right -"

"Twelve years, in fact," said Moony. Come on Ron! I yelled inside my head, Connect the fucking dots! "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"

"We - we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron.

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" said Moony. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again..."

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed.

"This cat isn't mad," said Sirius hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. I snorted. Evil demon fluffy thing. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me... Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me..."

"What do you mean?" breathed Hermione.

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't... So he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me... As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table..." Poor Neville, I thought.

"But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it." croaked Sirius. "This cat -Crookshanks, did you call him? - told me Peter had left blood on the sheets... I supposed he bit himself... Well, faking his own death had worked once."

"And why did he fake his death?" Harry said furiously. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"

"No," I said, "Harry -"

"And now you've come to finish him off!"

"Yes, I have," said Sirius, with an evil look at Scabbers. Yeah, thanks for the help Pads.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.

"Harry," said Moony hurriedly, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down - but it was the other way around, don't you see? Pettigrew betrayed your mum and dad -Sirius tracked Pettigrew down -"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Harry yelled. "HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"

He was pointing at Sirius, who shook his head slowly; the sunken eyes were suddenly over bright.

"Harry... I as good as killed them," he croaked. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me...I'm To blame, I know it...The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies... I realized what Peter must've done... What I'd done..."

His voice broke. He turned away.

"Enough of this," said Moony, and there was a steely note in his voice I had only heard when he was serious about something - no pun intended. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked Moony tensely.

"Stab him. Rip his head off. Something poetic, we'll see." I said. Moony rolled his eyes.

"Force him to show himself," said Moons. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."

Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers and Moony took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head. "Ready, Sirius?" said Moony.

Padfoot had already retrieved Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Moony and the struggling rat, and his dark eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his face.

"Together?" he said quietly.

"I think so", said Moony, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. I raised my wand, just in case he tried escaping "On the count of three. One - two - THREE!"

A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small gray form twisting madly - Ron yelled - the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then -

It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing tree. A head was shooting upward from the ground; limbs were sprouting; a moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and snarling on the bed; the hair on his back was standing up. I growled, stepping closer to my Dad and Godfather.

He was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry or Hermione. His thin, colorless hair was unkempt and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers's fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes. He looked around at us all, his breathing fast and shallow. I saw his eyes dart to the door and back again.

"Well, hello, Peter," said Moony pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. I almost laughed. "Long time, no see."

"S-Sirius... R-Remus..." Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends...my old friends..."

Sirius's wand arm rose, but I seized him around the wrist. Moony gave him a warning took, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual.

"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed -"

"Remus," gasped Pettigrew, and I could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, "you don't believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

"So we've heard," said Moony, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so -"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Sirius, and I saw that he used his middle finger, because his index was missing. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too... You've got to help me, Remus..."

Sirius's face looked more skull-like than ever as he stared at Pettigrew with his fathomless eyes. I growled low in my throat.

"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," said Moony.

"Sorted things out?" squealed Pettigrew, looking wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again, the only door. "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" said Moony, his brow furrowed. "When nobody has ever done it before?"

"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew shouted shrilly. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"

Padfoot started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the whole room.

"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said.

Pettigrew flinched as though Sirius had brandished a whip at him.

"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Sirius. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"

"Don't know what you mean, Sirius -" muttered Pettigrew, his breathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now.

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Padfoot. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter... They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them... I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information... And Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter -"

"Don't know...what you're talking about..." Said Pettigrew again, more shrilly than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Moony. "You don't believe this - this madness, Remus -"

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," said Moons evenly.

"Innocent, but scared!" squealed Pettigrew. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban - the spy, Sirius Black!"

Sirius's face contorted.

"How dare you," he growled, and I gripped his arm tightly. "I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter - I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... Me and Remus... And James..."

Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath.

"Me, a spy...must be out of your mind...never...don't know how you can say such a -"

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Sirius hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. "I thought it was the perfect plan... A bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."

Pettigrew was muttering distractedly; I caught words like "far-fetched" and "lunacy," but I couldn't help paying more attention to the ashen color of Pettigrew's face and the way his eyes continued to dart toward the windows and door.

"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione timidly. "Can - can I say something?"

"Certainly, Hermione," said Moony courteously.

"Well - Scabbers - I mean, this - this man - he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"

"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly, pointing at Hermione with his maimed hand. I wished he'd stop doing that. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"

"I'll tell you why," said Padfoot. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him..."

Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to talk.

"Er - Mr. Black - Sirius?" said Hermione.

Sirius jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as though he had never seen anything quite like her. I smirked.

"If you don't mind me asking, how - how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?"

"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I -"

But Moony silenced him with a look. Sirius was frowning slightly at Hermione, but not as though he were annoyed with her. He seemed to be pondering his answer.

"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me... But it kept me sane and knowing who I am... Helped me keep my powers... So when it all became... Too much... I could transform in my cell... Become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know..." He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions... They could tell that my feelings were less - less human, less complex when I was a dog... But they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand...

"But then I saw Peter in that picture... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry... Perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again..."

Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all the while at Padfoot as though hypnotized.

"... Ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies... And to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors...

"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive... It was as if someone had lit a fire In my head, and the Dementors couldn't destroy it... It wasn't a happy feeling... it was an obsession... But it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog... It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused... I was thin, very thin... Thin enough to slip through the bars... I swam as a dog back to the mainland... I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry..."

He looked at Harry, who did not look away.

"Believe me," croaked Sirius. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

And at long last, Harry nodded.

"No!"

Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod had been his own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying.

"Sirius - it's me... It's Peter... Your friend... You wouldn't -"

Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled.

"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," said Sirius.

"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Moony instead, writhing imploringly in front of him. "You don't believe this - wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," said Moony. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrew's head.

"Forgive me, Remus," said Padfoot.

"Of course, Padfoot, old friend," said Moony, who was now rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

"Of course," said Padfoot, and the ghost of a grin flitted across his gaunt face. He, too, began rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so," said Moony grimly.

"You wouldn't... You won't..." Gasped Pettigrew. And he scrambled around to Ron.

"Ron... Haven't I been a good friend... A good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you...you're on my side, aren't you?"

But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion.

"I let you sleep in my bed!" he said. I snorted.

"Kind boy... Kind master..." Pettigrew crawled toward Ron "You won't let them do it... I was your rat... I was a good pet..."

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," said Sirius harshly. Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Pettigrew turned on his knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's robes.

"Sweet girl... Clever girl... You - you won't let them... Help me..."

Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backed away against the wall, looking horrified.

He turned to me.

"Jack... You wouldn't let your own father kill me... You wouldn't let him become a murderer..."

I snarled at him and he recoiled. Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly toward Harry.

"Harry... Harry... You look just like your father... Just like him..."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" roared Sirius. "HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?"

"Harry," whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed... James would have understood, Harry... He would have shown me mercy..."

Both Moony and Sirius strode forward, seized Pettigrew's shoulders, and threw him backward onto the floor. He sat there, twitching with terror, staring up at them.

"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," said Padfoot, who was shaking too. "Do you deny it?"

Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, like an oversized, balding baby, cowering on the floor. Ew.

"Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord... You have no idea... He has weapons you can't imagine... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me -"

"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Sirius. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"

"He - he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" said SIrius, with a terrible fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"

"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Sirus. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

Padfoot and Moony stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.

"You should have realized," said Moony quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall.

"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front Pettigrew, facing the wands. I growled. Idiot! "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't."

Sirius and my Dad both looked staggered.

"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Sirius snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family."

"I know," Harry panted. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors...He can go to Azkaban... But don't kill him."

"Harry!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry's knees. "You - thank you - it's more than I deserve - thank you -"

"Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because - I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers - just for you." That's more like it.

No one moved or made a sound except Pettigrew, whose breath was coming in wheezes as he clutched his chest. Sirius and Moons were looking at each other. Then, with one movement, they lowered their wands.

"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry," said Sirius. "But think... Think what he did..."

"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deserves that place, he does..."

Pettigrew was still wheezing behind him.

"Very well," said Moony. "Stand aside, Harry."

Harry hesitated. Ugh, why was he so brave.

"I'm going to tie him up," said Moony. "That's all, I swear."

Harry stepped out of the way. Thin cords shot from Moony's wand this time, and next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on the floor, bound and gagged.

"But if you transform, Peter," growled Sirius, his own wand pointing at Pettigrew too, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?"

Harry looked down at the pitiful figure on the floor and nodded so that Pettigrew could see him. He was already getting smarter! I would need to teach him...

"Right," said Moony, suddenly businesslike. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing."

He hurried over to Ron, bent down, tapped Ron's leg with his wand, and muttered, "Ferula." Bandages spun up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to a splint. Moony and I helped him to his feet; Ron put his weight gingerly on the leg and didn't wince.

"That's better," he said. "Thanks."

"What about Professor Snape?" said Hermione in a small voice, looking down at Snape's prone figure. I snorted: karma's a bitch.

"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," said Moons, bending over Snape and checking his pulse. "You were just a little - overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er - perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safety back in the castle. We can take him like this..."

He muttered, "Mobilicorpus." As though invisible strings were tied to Snape's wrists, neck, and knees, he was pulled into a standing position, head still lolling unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. I shuddered and looked away from him. He hung a few inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling. Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely into his pocket.

"And two of us should be chained to this," said Sirius, nudging Pettigrew with his toe. "Just to make sure."

"I'll do it," said Moony.

"And me," said Ron savagely, limping forward.

Sirius conjured heavy manacles from thin air; soon Pettigrew was upright again, left arm chained to Moony's right, right arm to Ron's left. Ron's face was set. He seemed to have taken Scabbers's true identity as a personal insult, as would I have. Crookshanks leapt lightly off the bed and led the way out of the room, his bottlebrush tail held jauntily high.


	12. By The Light Of The Moon

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

I had never been part of a stranger group. Crookshanks aka demon cat led the way down the stairs, me right behind him; Moony, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. Harry and Hermione brought up the rear.

Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Moony, Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn sideways to manage it; Moony still had Pettigrew covered with his wand. I could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. Harry and Hermione went right after Sirius, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. I had the impression Sirius was making no effort to prevent this. I didn't complain though.

Finally, we reached the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks darted up first; he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk, because I clambered upward without being attacked by a savage tree.

Moony, Pettigrew and Ron clambered out with my help. Sirius saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Harry and Hermione to pass. At last, all of us were out.

The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant windows of the castle. Without a word, they set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering.

"One wrong move, Peter," said Moony threateningly ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest.

Silently we tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Sirius, his chin bumping on his chest. And then -

A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. We were bathed in moonlight.

Snape collided with my Dad, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. I froze, flinging out one arm to make Harry and Hermione stop.

I could see Moony's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake.

"He didn't take his potion tonight," I said. "He's not safe!"

"Run," Sirius whispered. "Run. Now."

Moony let out a terrible, drawn out scream as his limbs began to shake more violently.

"Leave it to us - RUN!" I yelled.

There was a terrible snarling noise. Moony's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. His screams cut off, turning into loud, terrifying snarls

As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Harry's side. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other.

I ran forward, and, at the last second, jumped. In the empty air, a tremor rippled down my spine as heat flashed across my body and my bones shifted and molded into a new shape in quick succession. Pitch black fur blew out from my body, coalescing into a shape more than three times my size. If someone had blinked, they would've missed the transformation. Thanks to the rapid healing, it was pretty much painless.

Me and Padfoot worked together, trying to keep the werewolf at bay without actually causing any harm. I was a good deal bigger than Moony, but a werewolf was territorial, vicious, and in this state, he didn't recognize me. Both me and Sirius bore some pretty nasty wounds by now, but my healing abilities kept me going.

"Expelliarmus." Harry yelled, but I didn't move. I dodged as Moony snapped his teeth an inch from my neck. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted.

Moony leapt at me once again, and I jumped through the air, forcing the both of us onto the ground. With as much force as I dared, I latched my teeth around Moony's neck, making sure I didn't break the skin. He thrashed and snarled, and I threw him away from me. With a howl and a rumbling growl; Moony took flight, galloping into the forest -

"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry yelled.

I turned my head to look at Sirius; he was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harry's words he scrambled up again, and in an instant, was running away across the grounds, me right behind him. Unlike me, he didn't have advanced healing, so the wounds Moony inflicted were still bleeding afresh.

We made it to the lakeshore, I could faintly pick up Pettigrew's scent, and I nodded at Sirius, snout to the ground and sniffing for any trace of rat. I was near the water's edge when I felt it; an intense cold was coming over me. Sirius was whining and yelping.

The yelping stopped abruptly. I looked over and saw why - Sirius had turned back into a man. He was crouched on all fours, his hands over his head.

"Nooo," he moaned. "Nooo... Please..." I stood in front of him protectively and faced the oncoming threat.

Dementors, at least a hundred of them, gliding in a black mass around the lake toward us. I spun around, the familiar, icy cold penetrating my insides, fog starting to obscure my vision; more were appearing out of the darkness on every side; they were encircling us as the voices and images in my head grew clearer...

"Hermione, think of something happy!" Harry yelled, from behind me. I turned to see him and Hermione had joined us. I barked, tying to tell him to go back, but he had raised his wand.

Sirius gave a shudder, rolled over, and lay motionless on the ground, pale as death. I stepped in front of them all, trying to protect everyone at once.

"Expecto patronum! Hermione, help me! Expecto patronum!"

"Expecto -" Hermione whispered, "expecto - expecto -"

But she couldn't do it. The Dementors were closing in, barely ten feet from us. They formed a solid wall around me, Harry and Hermione, and were getting closer...

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry yelled. I shifted back, pulling my wand from my remaining trousers. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A thin wisp of silver escaped his wand and hovered like mist before us. At the same moment, I felt Hermione collapse next to us.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" I yelled. I could feel blood running down my freezing skin as the wounds on my body - reopened by the shift - were spilling blood and the pleading voices screamed inside my head. The reminder of the burning pain throbbed through my skin while my wolf patronus kept the Dementors at bay as Harry fell to his knees. Fog was clouding my eyes. With a huge effort, I managed to stop myself from collapsing, but fell to my knees next to Harry.

"Expecto patronum!" he gasped.

By the feeble light of Harry's formless Patronus, I saw a Dementor halt, very close to him. It couldn't walk through the cloud of silver mist Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside.

"No - no -" Harry gasped. "He's innocent... expecto expecto patronum -"

I could feel them watching us, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around me. The nearest Dementor seemed to be considering us. Then it raised both its rotting hands - and lowered its hood.

Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, gray scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth... A gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a death rattle.

A paralyzing terror filled me so that I couldn't move or speak. Harry's Patronus flickered and died. For the first time in my life, I felt pure, absolute terror. I could only see the faces of the innocent in front of my eyes. Wolves. Blood. Death.

White fog was blinding me. We had to fight... expecto patronum... I couldn't see...

But a pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly attached themselves around my neck. They were forcing my face upward... It was going to get rid of me first...

I gasped weakly, attempting to force the hands away from my throat, but my strength was leaving me, and darkness was surrounding me as worse and worse memories blocked out the real world. I fell unconscious to a bright, blinding white light.


	13. A Second Chance

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

"Shocking business... Shocking... Miracle none of them died... Never heard the like... By thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape..."

"Thank you, Minister."

"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"

"Thank you very much indeed, Minister."

"Nasty cut you've got there... Black's work, I suppose?"

"As a matter of fact, it was Potter, Weasley, and Granger, Minister..."

"No!"

"Black had bewitched them, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge by their behavior. They seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent. They weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape... They obviously thought they were going to catch Black single-handed. They've got away with a great deal before now... I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves... And of course Potter has always been allowed an extraordinary amount of license by the headmaster -"

"Ah, well, Snape... Harry Potter, you know... We've all got a bit of a blind spot where he's concerned."

"And yet - is it good for him to be given so much special treatment? Personally, I try and treat him like any other student. And any other student would be suspended - at the very least - for leading his friends into such danger. Consider, Minister - against all school rules - after all the precautions put in place for his protection - out-of-bounds, at night, consorting with a werewolf, a Hybrid and a murderer - and I have reason to believe he has been visiting Hogsmeade illegally too -"

"Well, well... We shall see, Snape, we shall see... The boy has undoubtedly been foolish..."

I lay listening with my eyes tight shut. I felt very groggy. The words I was hearing seemed to be traveling very slowly from my ears to my brain, so that it was difficult to understand... My limbs felt like lead; my eyelids too heavy to lift... I wanted to lie here, on this comfortable bed, forever...

"What amazes me most is the behavior of the dementors... you've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?"

"No, Minister... by the time I had come round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances..."

"Extraordinary. And yet Black, Lupin, and Harry, and the girl -"

"All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound and gagged Black, naturally, and bound the half breed - seeing as it is a full moon - conjured stretchers, and brought them all straight back to the castle."

There was a pause. My brain seemed to be moving a little faster, and as it did, a gnawing sensation grew in the pit of my stomach...

I opened I eyes.

At the very end of the ward, I could make out Madam Pomfrey with her back to me, bending over a bed. Harry squinted. Ron's red hair was visible beneath Madam Pomfrey's arm.

I moved my head over on the pillow. In the bed to my right lay Harry, and to the left was Hermoine. Moonlight was falling across her bed. Their eyes were open too. She looked petrified, and when she saw that we were awake, pressed a finger to her lips, then pointed to the hospital wing door. It was ajar, and the voices of Cornelius Fudge and Snape were coming through it from the corridor outside.

Madam Pomfrey now came walking briskly up the dark ward to mine and Harry's bed. I turned to look at her. She was carrying the largest block of chocolate I had ever seen in my life. It looked like a small boulder.

"Ah, you're awake!" she said briskly. She placed the chocolate on Harry's bedside table and began breaking it apart with a small hammer.

"How's Ron?" said me Harry and Hermione together.

"He'll live, said Madam Pomfrey grimly. "As for you three you'll be staying here until I'm satisfied you're - Potter, Lupin, what do you think you're doing?"

Harry was sitting up, putting his glasses back on, and picking up his wand. I had already slung my legs out of bed. I could see the freshly healed scars along my bare chest and down my arms, and I could feel deep teeth marks on my neck from where Moony-wolf had tried to tear my throat out.

Lovely.

"I need to see the headmaster," Harry said as I pulled on a random dark blue t-shirt that was on the end of my bed. It fit, so I assumed it was for me.

"I need to find my Dad." I muttered, "And speak to Dumbledore."

"Potter, Lupin" said Madam Pomfrey soothingly, "it's all right. They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The dementors will be performing the kiss any moment now -"

"WHAT?"

I jumped up out of bed; Harry Hermione had done the same. But mine and Harry's shout had been heard in the corridor outside; next second, Cornelius Fudge and Snape had entered the ward.

"Harry, Harry, what's this?" said Fudge, looking agitated. "You should be in bed - has he had any chocolate?" he asked Madam Pomfrey anxiously.

"Minister, listen!" Harry said. "Sirius Black's innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the dementors do that thing to Sirius, he's -"

But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face.

"Harry, Harry, you're very confused, you've been through a dreadful ordeal, lie back down, now, we've got everything under control..."

"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"

"Minister, listen, please," Hermione said; she had hurried to Harry's side along with me and was gazing imploringly into Fudge's face. "I saw him too. It was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus, Pettigrew, I mean, and -"

"You see, Minister?" said Snape. "Confunded, both of them... Black's done a very good job on them..."

"WE'RE NOT CONFUNDED!" Harry roared.

"Minister! Professor!" said Madam Pomfrey angrily. "I must insist that you leave. Potter is my patient, and he should not be distressed!"

"I'm not distressed, I'm trying to tell them what happened!" Harry said furiously. "If they'd just listen-"

But Madam Pomfrey suddenly stuffed a large chunk of chocolate into Harry's mouth; he choked, and she seized the opportunity to force him back onto the bed.

"Now, please, Minister, these children need care. Please leave-"

The door opened again. It was Dumbledore. This time, I took matters into my own hands.

"Professor Dumbledore, Sirius Black -"

"For heaven's sake!" said Madam Pomfrey hysterically. "Is this a hospital wing or not? Headmaster, I must insist -"

"My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin and Miss Granger," said Dumbledore calmly. "I have just been talking to Sirius Black -"

"I suppose he's told you the same fairy tale he's planted in their minds?" spat Snape. "Something about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive -"

"That, indeed, is Black's story," said Dumbledore, surveying Snape closely through his half-moon spectacles.

"And does my evidence count for nothing?" snarled Snape. "Peter Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking Shack, nor did I see any sign of him on the grounds."

"That was because you were knocked out, Professor!" said Hermione earnestly. "You didn't arrive in time to hear -"

"Miss Granger, HOLD YOUR TONGUE!"

"Now, Snape," said Fudge, startled, "the young lady is disturbed in her mind, we must make allowances-"

"I would like to speak to Jack, Harry and Hermione alone," said Dumbledore abruptly. "Cornelius, Severus, Poppy - please leave us."

"Headmaster!" sputtered Madam Pomfrey. "They need treatment, they need rest -"

"This cannot wait," said Dumbledore. "I must insist."

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and strode away into her office at the end of the ward, slamming the door behind her. Fudge consulted the large gold pocket watch dangling from his waistcoat.

"The dementors should have arrived by now," he said. "I'll go and meet them. Dumbledore, I'll see you upstairs."

He crossed to the door and held it open for Snape, but Snape hadn't moved.

"You surely don't believe a word of Black's story?" Snape whispered, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore's face.

"I wish to speak to Harry, Jack and Hermione alone," Dumbledore repeated.

Snape took a step toward Dumbledore.

"Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen," he breathed. "You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven't forgotten that he once tried to kill me?"

"My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus," said Dumbledore quietly.

Snape turned on his heel and marched through the door Fudge was still holding. It closed behind them, and Dumbledore turned to us. We all burst into speech at the same time.

"Professor, Black's telling the truth - we saw Pettigrew -"

"- just after they almost killed Snape -"

"- he escaped when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf -"

"- he's a rat -"

"- Pettigrew's front paw, I mean, finger, he cut it off -"

"- This conversation is going no where -"

"- Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn't Sirius -"

But Dumbledore held up his hand to stem the flood of explanations.

"It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me, because there is very little time," he said quietly. "There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story, except your word - and the word of two thirteen-year-old wizards and a half werewolf hybrid will not convince anybody. A street full of eyewitnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper."

"Professor Lupin can tell you -" Harry said, seemingly unable to stop himself

"Professor Lupin is currently deep in the forest, unable to tell anyone anything. By the time he is human again, it will be too late, Sirius will be worse than dead. I might add that werewolves are so mistrusted by most of our kind that his support will count for very little - and the fact that he and Sirius are old friends -"

"But -"

"Listen to me, Harry. It is too late, you understand me? You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours."

"He hates Sirius," Hermione said desperately. "All because of some stupid trick Sirius played on him -"

"Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady - entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife - without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius's sentence."

"But you believe us."

"Yes, I do, Jack," said Dumbledore quietly. "But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the Minister of Magic..."

I stared up into the grave face and felt as though the ground beneath me was falling sharply away. I had grown used to the idea that Dumbledore could solve anything. I had expected Dumbledore to pull some amazing solution out of the air. But no... Our last hope was gone.

"What we need," said Dumbledore slowly, and his light blue eyes moved from me to Harry to Hermione, "is more time."

"But -" Hermione began. And then her eyes became very round. "OH!"

"Now, pay attention," said Dumbledore, speaking very low, and very clearly. "Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight. But remember this: you must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law - you know what is at stake... You - must - not - be - seen."

I didn't have a clue what was going on. Dumbledore had turned on his heel and looked back as he reached the door.

"I am going to lock you in. It is -" he consulted his watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."

"Good luck?" I repeated as the door closed behind Dumbledore. "Three turns? What the hell is he talking about? What are we supposed to do?"

But Hermione was fumbling with the neck of her robes, pulling from beneath them a very long, very fine gold chain.

"Guys, come here," she said urgently. "Quick!"

Harry and I moved toward her, completely bewildered. She was holding the chain out. I saw a tiny, sparkling hourglass hanging from it.

"Here -"

She had thrown the chain around our necks too.

"Ready?" she said breathlessly.

"What are we doing?" Harry said. I was completely lost.

Hermione turned the hourglass over three times.

The dark ward dissolved. I had the sensation that I was flying very fast, backward. A blur of colors and shapes rushed past me, my ears were pounding-

And then I felt solid ground beneath my feet, and everything came into focus again -

I was standing next to Harry and Hermione in the deserted entrance hall and a stream of golden sunlight was falling across the paved floor from the open front doors. I looked wildly around at Hermione, the chain of the hourglass cutting into my neck.

"Hermione, what -?"

"In here!" Hermione seized mine and Harry's arms and dragged us across the hall to the door of a broom closet; she opened it, pushed him inside among the buckets and mops, then slammed the door behind us.

"What - how - Hermione, what happened?"

"We've gone back in time," Hermione whispered, lifting the chain off our necks in the darkness. "Three hours back..."

I found my own leg and gave it a very hard pinch. It hurt a lot, which seemed to rule out the possibility that I was having a very bizarre dream.

"But -"

"Shh! Listen! Someone's coming! I think - I think it might be us!" Hermione had her ear pressed against the cupboard door.

"Footsteps across the hall... Yes, I think it's us going down to Hagrid's!"

"Are you telling me," Harry whispered, "that we're here in this cupboard and we're out there too?"

"Yes," said Hermione, her ear still glued to the cupboard door. "I'm sure it's us. It doesn't sound like more than three people... And we're walking slowly because we're under the Invisibility Cloak - "

She broke off, still listening intently.

"We've gone down the front steps..."

Hermione sat down on an upturned bucket, looking desperately anxious, but I wanted a few questions answered.

"Where did you get that hourglass thing?"

"It's called a Time-Turner," Hermione whispered, "and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies... I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, see? But..

"I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do. Why did he tell us to go back three hours? How's that going to help Sirius?"

I stared at her shadowy face.

"There must be something that happened around now he wants us to change," Harry said slowly. "What happened? We were walking down to Hagrid's three hours ago..."

"This is three hours ago, and we are walking down to Hagrid's," said Hermione. "We just heard ourselves leaving..."

I frowned; I felt as though I was screwing up my whole brain in concentration.

"Dumbledore just said - just said we could save more than one innocent life..." And then it hit me. "We're going to save Buckbeak!"

"But - how will that help Sirius?"

"Dumbledore said - he just told us where the window is - the window of Flitwick's office! Where they've got Sirius locked up! We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak - they can escape together!" Harry explained for me.

From what I could see of Hermione's face, she looked terrified.

"If we manage that without being seen, it'll be a miracle!"

"Well, we've got to try, haven't we?" said Harry. He stood up and pressed his ear against the door. "Doesn't sound like anyone's there... Come on, let's go."

Harry pushed open the closet door. The entrance hall was deserted. As quietly and quickly as we could, we darted out of the closet and down the stone steps. The shadows were already lengthening, the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest gilded once more with gold.

"If anyone's looking out of the window -" Hermione squeaked, looking up at the castle behind us.

"We'll run for it," said Harry determinedly. "Straight into the forest, all right? We'll have to hide behind a tree or something and keep a lookout -"

"Okay, but we'll go around by the greenhouses!" said Hermione breathlessly. "We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door, or we'll see us! We must be nearly at Hagrid's by now!"

Still working out what she meant, I set off at a sprint, Harry and Hermione behind me. We tore across the vegetable gardens to the greenhouses, paused for a moment behind them, then set off again, fast as we could, skirting around the Whomping Willow, tearing toward the shelter of the forest...

Safe in the shadows of the trees, I turned around; seconds later, Harry and Hermione arrived beside me, panting.

"Right," Hermione gasped. "We need to sneak over to Hagrid's... Keep out of sight..."

We made our way silently through the trees, keeping to the very edge of the forest. Then, as we glimpsed the front of Hagrid's house, I heard a knock upon his door. We moved quickly behind a wide oak trunk and peered out from either side. Hagrid had appeared in his doorway, shaking and white, looking around to see who had knocked. And I heard Harry's voice.

"It's us. We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Let us in and we can take it off."

"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid whispered. He stood back, then shut the door quickly.

"This is the weirdest thing we've ever done," Harry said fervently.

"Let's move along a bit," Hermione whispered. "We need to get nearer to Buckbeak!"

We crept through the trees until I saw the nervous hippogriff, tethered to the fence around Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

"Now?" Harry whispered.

"No!" said Hermione. "If we steal him now, those Committee people will think Hagrid set him free! We've got to wait until they've seen he's tied outside!"

"That's going to give us about sixty seconds," said Harry. This was starting to seem impossible.

At that moment, there was a crash of breaking china from inside Hagrid's cabin.

"That's Hagrid breaking the milk jug," Hermione whispered. "I'm going to find Scabbers in a moment-"

Sure enough, a few minutes later, we heard Hermione's shriek of surprise.

"Hermione," said Harry suddenly, "what if we - we just run in there and grab Pettigrew -"

"No!" said Hermione in a terrified whisper. "Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to change time, nobody! You heard Dumbledore, if we're seen -"

"We'd only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!"

"Harry, what do you think you'd do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?" said Hermione.

"I'd - I'd think I'd gone mad," said Harry, "or I'd think there was some Dark Magic going on -"

"Exactly! You wouldn't understand, you might even attack yourself! Don't you see? Professor McGonagall told me what awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time... Loads of them ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake! It's a fixed point in time and it cannot be changed!"

"Okay!" said Harry. "It was just an idea, I just thought -"

But Hermione nudged him and pointed toward the castle. I moved my head a few inches to get a clear view of the distant front doors. Dumbledore, Fudge, the old Committee member, and Macnair the executioner were coming down the steps.

"We're about to come out!" Hermione breathed.

And sure enough, moments later, Hagrid's back door opened, and I saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking out of it with Hagrid. It was, without a doubt, the strangest sensation of my life, standing behind the tree, and watching Harry in the pumpkin patch with Harry.

"It's Okay, Beaky, it's okay..." Hagrid said to Buckbeak. Then he turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Go on. Get goin'."

"Hagrid, we can't -"

"We'll tell them what really happened

"They can't kill him -"

"Go! It's bad enough without you lot in trouble an' all!"

I watched the Hermione in the pumpkin patch throw the Invisibility Cloak over Harry and Ron.

"Go quick. Don' listen..."

There was a knock on Hagrid's front door. The execution party had arrived. Hagrid turned around and headed back into his cabin, leaving the back door ajar. I watched the grass flatten in patches all around the cabin and heard three pairs of feet retreating. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gone... But I could now hear what was happening inside the cabin through the back door.

"Where is the beast?" came the cold voice of Macnair.

"Out - outside," Hagrid croaked.

Harry pulled his head out of sight as Macnair's face appeared at Hagrid's window, staring out at Buckbeak. Then I heard Fudge.

"We - er - have to read you the official notice of execution, Hagrid. I'll make it quick. And then you and Macnair need to sign it. Macnair, You're supposed to listen too, that's procedure -"

Macnair's face vanished from the window. It was now or never.

"Wait here," I whispered to Harry and Hermione. "I'll do it."

As Fudge's voice started again, I darted out from behind my tree, vaulted the fence into the pumpkin patch, and approached Buckbeak.

"It is the decision of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures that the hippogriff Buckbeak, hereafter called the condemned, shall he executed on the sixth of June at sundown -"

Careful not to blink, I stared up into Buckbeak's fierce orange eyes once more and bowed. Buckbeak sank to his scaly knees and then stood up again. I began to fumble with the knot of rope tying Buckbeak to the fence, almost growling in frustration.

"... Sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair..."

"Come on, Buckbeak," I murmured, "come on, we're going to help you. Quietly... quietly!"

"... As witnessed below. Hagrid, you sign here..."

I threw all my weight onto the rope, but Buckbeak had dug in his front feet.

"Well, let's get this over with," said the reedy voice of the Committee member from inside Hagrid's cabin. "Hagrid, perhaps it will be better if you stay inside -"

"No, I - I wan' ter be with him... I don' wan' him ter be alone -"

Footsteps echoed from within the cabin.

"Buckbeak, move!" I hissed. "Come on! This is not the time to mess around!"

I tugged harder on the rope around Buckbeak's neck. The hippogriff began to walk, rustling its wings irritably. We were still ten feet away from the forest, in plain view of Hagrid's back door.

"One moment, please, Macnair," came Dumbledore's voice. "You need to sign too." The footsteps stopped. I heaved on the rope. Buckbeak snapped his beak and walked a little faster.

Harry and Hermione's white faces were sticking out from behind a tree.

"Jack, hurry!" Hermione mouthed.

I could still hear Dumbledore's voice talking from within the cabin. I gave the rope another wrench. Buckbeak broke into a grudging trot. We had reached the trees...

"Quick!" Harry hissed, darting out from behind his tree, seizing the rope too and adding his weight to make Buckbeak move faster. I looked over my shoulder; we were now blocked from sight; I couldn't see Hagrid's garden at all.

"Stop!" he whispered to me and Hermione. "They might hear us

Hagrid's back door had opened with a bang. Me, Harry, Hermione, and Buckbeak stood quite still; even the hippogriff seemed to be listening intently.

Silence... then -

"Where is it?" said the reedy voice of the Committee member. "Where is the beast?"

"It was tied here!" said the executioner furiously. "I saw it! Just here!"

I smirked.

"How extraordinary," said Dumbledore. There was a note of amusement in his voice. I held in a laugh.

"Beaky!" said Hagrid huskily.

There was a swishing noise, and the thud of an axe. The executioner seemed to have swung it into the fence in anger.

"Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!" Hagrid howled. I smiled.

Buckbeak started to strain against the rope, trying to get back to Hagrid. Me, Harry and Hermione tightened our grip and dug our heels into the forest floor to stop him.

"Someone untied him!" the executioner was snarling. "We should search the grounds, the forest."

"Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?" said Dumbledore, still sounding amused. God. Dumbledore was God."Search the skies, if you will... Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy."

"O' - o' course, Professor," said Hagrid, who sounded weak with happiness. "Come in, come in..."

We listened closely. I heard footsteps, the soft cursing of the executioner, the snap of the door, and then silence once more.

"Now what?" whispered Harry, looking around.

"We'll have to hide in here," said Hermione, who looked very shaken. "We need to wait until they've gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to Sirius's window. He won't be there for another couple of hours... Oh, this is going to be difficult..."

She looked nervously over her shoulder into the depths of the forest. The sun was setting now.

"We're going to have to move," I said. "We've got to be able to see the Whomping Willow, or we won't know what's going on."

"Okay," said Hermione, getting a firmer grip on Buckbeak's rope. "But we've got to keep out of sight, remember..."

We moved around the edge of the forest, darkness falling thickly around us, until we were hidden behind a clump of trees through which I could make out the Willow.

"There's Ron!" said Harry suddenly.

A dark figure was sprinting across the lawn and its shout echoed through the still night air.

"Get away from him - get away - Scabbers, come here -"

And then I saw two more figures materialize out of nowhere. I watched Harry and Hermione chasing after Ron. Then I saw Ron dive.

"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat -"

"There's Sirius!" said Harry. The great shape of the dog had bounded out from the roots of the Willow. I saw him bowl Harry over, then seize Ron...

"Looks even worse from here, doesn't it?" said Harry, watching the dog pulling Ron into the roots. "Ouch - look, I just got walloped by the tree - and so did you - this is weird -"

The Whomping Willow was creaking and lashing out with its lower branches; I could see Harry and Hermione darting here and there, trying to reach the trunk. And then the tree froze.

"That was Crookshanks pressing the knot," said Hermione.

"And there we go..." Harry muttered. "We're in."

"And to think I was talking to my Dad while all this was happening." I muttered

The moment they disappeared, the tree began to move again. Seconds later, I heard footsteps quite close by. Dumbledore, Macnair, Fudge, and the old Committee member were making their way up to the castle.

"Right after we'd gone down into the passage!" said Hermione. "If only Dumbledore had come with us..."

"Macnair and Fudge would've gone too," I said bitterly. "I bet you anything Fudge would've told Macnair to murder Sirius on the spot..."

We watched the four men climb the castle steps and disappear from view. For a few minutes the scene was deserted. Then -

"Here you come!" said Harry as I saw another two figures sprinting down the stone steps and hating toward the Willow. I looked up at the sky. Clouds were obscuring the moon completely.

I watched as I kicked a broken branch in frustration, making it fly a good thirty feet away. Moony seized a broken branch from the ground and prod the knot on the trunk. The tree stopped fighting, and we, too, disappeared into the gap in its roots.

"If you'd only grabbed the cloak," said Harry. "It's just lying there..."

"I was a bit more focused on you lot," I said, watching the empty grounds.

"If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape'd never be able to get it and -"

"Jack, we mustn't be seen!"

"How can you stand this?" I asked Hermione fiercely. "Just standing here and watching it happen?" I hesitated. "I'm going to grab the cloak!"

"Jack, no!"

Hermione seized the back of my shirt not a moment too soon. Just then, I heard a burst of song. It was Hagrid, making his way up to the castle, singing at the top of his voice, and weaving slightly as he walked. A large bottle was swinging from his hands.

"See?" Hermione whispered. "See what would have happened? We've got to keep out of sight! No, Buckbeak!"

The hippogriff was making frantic attempts to get to Hagrid again; I seized his rope too, straining to hold Buckbeak back. We watched Hagrid meander tipsily up to the castle. He was gone. Buckbeak stopped fighting to get away. His head drooped sadly and I patted his giant head.

Barely two minutes later, the castle doors flew open yet again, and Snape came charging out of them, running toward the Willow.

My fists clenched as we watched Snape skid to a halt next to the tree, looking around. He grabbed the cloak and held it up.

"Get your filthy hands off it," Harry snarled under his breath.

"Shh!"

Snape seized the branch Moony had used to freeze the tree, prodded the knot, and vanished from view as he put on the cloak.

"So that's it," said Hermione quietly. "We're all down there... and now we've just got to wait until we come back up again..."

She took the end of Buckbeak's rope and tied it securely around the nearest tree, then sat down on the dry ground, arms around her knees.

"Jack," she began, and I turned to look at her as I leaned against a tree while sitting on the floor. "What was Snape and Fudge talking about before, they called you a 'half-breed? and so did Dumbledore...'"

I smiled slightly.

"I'm not just a werewolf," I began to explain. "I'm a cross breed."

"Like a mule?" Harry asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Well I usually don't like being compared to a mule, but yeah, I guess like a mule."

"What are you a cross between?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I'm half werewolf, half Lycan."

I saw Hermione's shocked face.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yup," I said. "First ever hybrid."

She looked completely shocked. "Is that why..."

"Why I'm covered in scars?" I asked, smiling at her. She nodded. "Yeah... Life before my Dad was rough; I lived with a Lycan pack, which isn't recommended. Since I was different, I was beaten down a lot - Lycans are very territorial - and that's how I got a lot of the scars."

"What are Lycans anyway?" Harry asked, just as curious as Hermione.

"The most feared species to roam the Wizarding world." I said, looking up at the sky through the trees. "With the ability to turn at will, amazing regeneration abilities and enhanced senses, we're near enough indestructible. Lycans aren't made, they're born, but they're all dead. I'm the last one..."

The leaves overhead rustled faintly in the breeze. The moon drifted in and out of sight behind the shifting clouds. Hermione sat with her face turned toward the Willow, waiting.

And then, at last, after over an hour...

"Here we come!" Hermione whispered.

We got to our feet. Buckbeak raised his head. I saw Moony, Ron, and Pettigrew clambering awkwardly out of the hole in the roots. Then I hopped out, stretching. Then came Hermione... then the unconscious Snape, drifting weirdly upward. Next came Harry and Sirius. We all began to walk toward the castle.

My heart was starting to beat very fast. I glanced up at the sky. Any moment now, that cloud was going to move aside and show the moon...

"Harry," Hermione muttered as though she knew exactly what he was thinking, "we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do..."

"So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again..." Said Harry quietly.

"How do you expect to find a rat in the dark?" snapped Hermione. "There's nothing we can do! We came back to help Sirius; we're not supposed to be doing anything else!"

"All right!"

The moon slid out from behind its cloud. I saw the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then I saw movement -

"There goes Lupin," Hermione whispered. "He's transforming."

"Hermione!" said Harry suddenly. "We've got to move!"

"We mustn't, I keep telling you -"

"Not to interfere! Lupin's going to run into the forest, right at us!"

Hermione gasped.

Ah, shit.

"Quick!" she moaned, dashing to untie Buckbeak. "Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide? The dementors will be coming any moment -"

"Back to Hagrid's!" Harry said. "It's empty now - come on!"

We ran as fast as we could, Buckbeak cantering along behind us. I could hear the werewolf howling behind us.

Suddenly, a snarling noise echoed off the trees, and we stopped dead.

Slowly, the Moony-wolf stepped out of the shadows, gold eyes gleaming in the moonlight and bared teeth dripping saliva down his furry chin.

"Don't move until I say so," I said to the two of them, moving away. Moony's eyes followed me, and a growl rumbled from his throat.

"Jack!" Hermione squeaked, terrified, but Moony's head snapped to her and she fell silent. Sensing weakness, Moony began to stalk towards them.

"Here doggy doggy," I said loudly, picking up a small stone and throwing it at Moony. He turned, a roar echoing around the forest. "Come on! Come play fetch?" I picked up a stick and waved it before throwing it as far as I could. Moony growled menacingly. "That didn't work."

The werewolf turned away from the two terrified teens, and began to stalk towards me. "When I run," I said slowly, keeping my eyes on the werewolf. "He's going to follow me. As soon as we're out of sight, go to Hagrids."

"Jack -" Harry began.

"No arguing, mate," I said as Moony stalked closer, enraged eyes on me. "I'm fast."

I spun round on my heel, and at once, I heard the werewolf crashing through the forest behind me.

I wove in and out of trees, running as fast as I could while keeping in mind to stay out of the deeper part of the forest and not veering towards the castle.

You know that one person in the horror film that's running from the killer, looks behind them and trips. Yeah, I hate that person, so I guess it was just fate that when I took a second to see whether the wolf was behind me, that my foot snagged on a sticking out tree limb, and I face-planted the forest floor.

Growls were echoing behind me, and, with as much force as I could manage, I leapt up into a tree.

It must have been my unlucky night, because almost at once, the branch I was perched on snapped, and I reached out blindly, grabbing a branch and dangling ten feet above the ground from that one, little branch which was creaking ominously.

To make things worse, Moony showed up.

Fanbloodytastic.

I tried to pull myself up as Moony snapped at my dangling feet, but there was no hold, so, I did the only rational thing.

I let go.

I fell, painfully, on top of Moony. Before he had a chance to bite my head off, I took off with the speed of a bullet, not stopping until I would find somewhere to hide.

There was a bush at the very edge of the lake. I threw myself behind it, only to land on -

"Harry?" I asked as he yelped in pain.

"Shh!" He said desperately. I looked to where he was looking; the other side of the lake.

I raised my head to look at the circle of dementors across the lake. One of them was lowering its hood. It was time for the random rescuer to appear - but no one was coming to help this time -

Harry flung himself out from behind the bush and pulled out his wand. I followed his lead.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM! " we yelled.

And out of the end of his wand burst, not a shapeless cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling, silver animal. It looked like a horse. It was galloping silently away from him, across the black surface of the lake, followed closely by my massive silver wolf. I saw it lower its head and charge at the swarming dementors as my wolf followed. Now they were galloping around and around the black shapes on the ground, and the dementors were falling back, scattering, retreating into the darkness... They were gone.

The Patronus' turned. Harry's ran back towards us across the still surface of the water as mine disappeared into mist. His wasn't a horse. It wasn't a unicorn, either. It was a stag. It was shining brightly as the moon above... It was coming back to him...

It stopped on the bank. Its hooves made no mark on the soft ground as it stared at Harry with its large, silver eyes. Slowly, it bowed its antlered head.

"Prongs," Harry whispered as my patronus vanished.

"Well done, Bambi." I smiled.

But as his trembling fingertips stretched toward the creature, it vanished.

Harry stood there, hand still outstretched. Then, I heard hooves behind us - we whirled around and saw Hermione dashing toward us, dragging Buckbeak behind her.

"What did you do?" she said fiercely. "You said you were only going to keep a lookout!"

"We just saved all our lives..." said Harry. "Get behind here - behind this bush - I'll explain."

Hermione listened to what had just happened with her mouth open yet again.

"Did anyone see you?"

"Yes, haven't you been listening? I saw us but I thought I was my dad! It's okay!"

"I can't believe it... You conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those dementors! That's very, very advanced magic.

"I knew I could do it this time," said Harry, "because I'd already done it... Does that make sense?"

"I don't know - look at Snape!"

Together we peered around the bush at the other bank. Snape had regained consciousness. He was conjuring stretchers and lifting the limp forms of Harry, Hermione, and Sirius onto them. Then, he chained my hands - dick head - and lifted me magically onto a fourth stretcher. A fifth stretcher, no doubt bearing Ron, was already floating at his side. Then, wand held out in front of him, he moved them away toward the castle.

"Right, it's nearly time," said Hermione tensely, looking at her watch. "We've got about forty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing. We've got to rescue Sirius and get back into the ward before anybody realizes we're missing..."

We waited, watching the moving clouds reflected in the lake, while the bush next to us whispered in the breeze. Buckbeak, bored, was ferreting for worms.

"D' you reckon he's up there yet?" said Harry, checking his watch. I looked up at the castle and began counting the windows to the right of the West Tower.

"Look!" Hermione whispered. "Who's that? Someone's coming back out of the castle!"

I stared through the darkness. The man was hurrying across the grounds, toward one of the entrances. Something shiny glinted in his belt.

"Macnair!" said Harry. "The executioner! He's gone to get the dementors! This is it -"

Hermione put her hands on Buckbeak's back and I gave her a leg up. Then I gave Harry one, then placed my foot on one of the lower branches of the bush and climbed up in front of them. I pulled Buckbeak's rope back over his neck and tied it to the other side of his collar like reins.

"Ready?" I whispered to hem. "You better hold on to me -"

I nudged Buckbeak's sides with my heels.

Buckbeak soared straight into the dark air. I gripped his flanks with my knees, feeling the great wings rising powerfully beneath us. Hermione was holding Harry very tight around the waist; and Harry had his hands gripping my shoulders so he wouldn't fall. I could hear Hermione muttering, "Oh, no - I don't like this oh, I really don't like this -"

I urged Buckbeak forward. We were gliding quietly toward the upper floors of the castle... I pulled hard on the left-hand side of the rope, and Buckbeak turned. I was trying to count the windows flashing past -

"Whoa!" I said, pulling backward as hard as I could.

Buckbeak slowed down and we found ourselves at a stop, unless you counted the fact that we kept rising up and down several feet as the hippogriff beat his wings to remain airborne.

"He's there!" Harry said, spotting Sirius as we rose up beside the window. I reached out, and as Buckbeak's wings fell, was able to tap sharply on the glass.

Sirius looked up. I saw his jaw drop. He leapt from his chair, hurried to the window and tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Stand back!" Hermione called to him, and she took out her wand, still gripping the back of Harry's robes with her left hand.

"Alohomora!"

The window sprang open.

"How - how -?" said Sirius weakly, staring at the hippogriff

"Get on - there's not much time," said Harry. "You've got to get out of here -the dementors are coming - Macnair's gone to get them."

Sirius placed a hand on either side of the window frame and heaved his head and shoulders out of it. It was very lucky he was so thin. In seconds, he had managed to fling one leg over Buckbeak's back and pull himself onto the hippogriff behind Hermione. It was good the hippogriff was so large and Sirius was so thin, because if he was any bigger, I couldn't see how Buckbeak would manage to stay airborne.

"Okay, Buckbeak, up!" I said, shaking the rope. "Up to the tower - come on.

The hippogriff gave one sweep of its mighty wings and we were soaring upward again, high as the top of the West Tower. Buckbeak landed with a clatter on the battlements, and me, Harry and Hermione slid off him at once.

"Sirius, you'd better go, quick," Harry panted. "They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment, they'll find out you're gone."

Buckbeak pawed the ground, tossing his sharp head.

"What happened to the other boy? Ron?" croaked Sirius.

"He's going to be okay. He's still out of it, but Madam Pomfrey says she'll be able to make him better. Quick - go -"

But Sirius was still staring down at us.

"How can I ever thank -"

"GO!" Me, Harry and Hermione shouted together.

Sirius wheeled Buckbeak around, facing the open sky.

"We'll see each other again," he said. "You are - truly your father's son, Harry..."

He squeezed Buckbeak's sides with his heels. The three of us jumped back as the enormous wings rose once more... The hippogriff took off into the air... He and his rider became smaller and smaller as I gazed after them... then a cloud drifted across the moon... They were gone.


	14. Snape Is Unbalanced

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNISE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

"Jack! Harry!"

Hermione was tugging at my sleeve, staring at her watch. "We've got exactly ten minutes to get back down to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us - before Dumbledore locks the door -"

"Okay," said Harry, wrenching his gaze from the sky, "let's go..."

We slipped through the doorway behind us and down a tightly spiraling stone staircase. As we reached the bottom of it, we heard voices. We flattened ourselves against the wall and listened. It sounded like Fudge and Snape. They were walking quickly along the corridor at the foot of the staircase.

"... only hope Dumbledore's not going to make difficulties," Snape was saying. "The Kiss will be performed immediately?"

"As soon as Macnair returns with the dementors. This whole Black affair has been highly embarrassing. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to informing the Daily Prophet that we've got him at last... I daresay they'll want to interview you, Snape... and once young Harry's back in his right mind, I expect he'll want to tell the Prophet exactly how you saved him..."

I caught a glimpse of Snape's smirk as he and Fudge passed our hiding place. Their footsteps died away. We waited a few moments to make sure they'd really gone, then started to run in the opposite direction. Down one staircase, then another, along a new, corridor - then I heard a cackling ahead.

"Peeves!" Harry muttered, grabbing our wrists. "In here!"

We tore into a deserted classroom to their left just in time. Peeves seemed to be bouncing along the corridor in boisterous good spirits, laughing his head off.

"Oh, he's horrible," whispered Hermione, her ear to the door. "I bet he's all excited because the dementors are going to finish off Sirius..." She checked her watch. "Three minutes!"

We waited until Peeves's gloating voice had faded into the distance, then slid back out of the room and broke into a run again.

"Hermione - what'll happen - if we don't get back inside before Dumbledore locks the door?" Harry panted.

"I don't want to think about it!" Hermione moaned, checking her watch again. "One minute!"

We had reached the end of the corridor with the hospital wing entrance. "Okay - I can hear Dumbledore," said Hermione tensely. "Come on!"

We crept along the corridor. The door opened. Dumbledore's back appeared.

"I am going to lock you in," we heard him saying. "it is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do It. Good luck."

Dumbledore backed out of the room, closed the door, and took out his wand to magically lock it. Panicking, we ran forward. Dumbledore looked up, and a wide smile appeared under the long silver mustache. "Well?" he said quietly.

"We did it!" said Harry breathlessly. "Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak..."

Dumbledore beamed at us.

"Well done. I think -" He listened intently for any sound within the hospital wing. "Yes, I think you've gone too - get inside - I'll lock you in -"

Me, Harry and Hermione slipped back inside the wing. It was empty except for Ron, who was still lying motionless in the end bed. As the lock clicked behind us, we crept back to our own beds, Hermione tucking the Time-Turner back under her robes. A moment later, Madam Pomfrey came striding back out of her office.

"Did I hear the headmaster leaving? Am I allowed to look after my patients now?"

She was in a very bad mood. We thought it best to accept our chocolate quietly. Madam Pomfrey stood over us, making sure we ate it. But we were waiting, listening, nerves jangling... And then, as I took a fourth piece of chocolate from Madam Pomfrey, I heard a distant roar of fury echoing from somewhere above us...

"What was that?" said Madam Pomfrey in alarm.

Now we could hear angry voices, growing louder and louder. Madam Pomfrey was staring at the door.

"Really - they'll wake everybody up! What do they think they're doing?"

I was trying to hear what the voices were saying. They were drawing nearer -

"He must have Disapparated, Severus. We should have left somebody in the room with him. When this gets out -"

"HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE!" Snape roared, now very close at hand. I grinned at Harry. "YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS - HAS - SOMETHING - TO - DO - WITH - POTTER - AND - LUPIN!"

"Severus - be reasonable - they have been locked up -"

BAM.

The door of the hospital wing burst open.

Fudge, Snape, and Dumbledore came striding into the ward. Dumbledore alone looked calm. Indeed, he looked as though he was quite enjoying himself. Fudge appeared angry. But Snape was beside himself.

"OUT WITH IT, LUPIN!" he bellowed. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"Professor Snape!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey. "Control yourself!"

"See here, Snape, be reasonable," said Fudge. "This door's been locked, we just saw -"

"THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!" Snape howled, pointing at me, Harry and Hermione. His face was twisted; spit was flying from his mouth.

"Calm down, man!" Fudge barked. "You're talking nonsense!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THESE TWO!" shrieked Snape. "THEY DID IT, I KNOW THEY DID IT -"

"That will do, Severus," said Dumbledore quietly. "Think about what you are saying. This door has been locked since I left the ward ten minutes ago. Madam Pomfrey, have these students left their beds?"

"Of course not!" said Madam Pomfrey, bristling. "I would have heard them!"

"Well, there you have it, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "Unless you are suggesting that Jack, Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see any point in troubling them further."

Snape stood there, seething, staring from Fudge, who looked thoroughly shocked at his behavior, to Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling behind his glasses. Snape whirled about, robes swishing behind him, and stormed out of the ward.

"Fellow seems quite unbalanced," said Fudge, staring after him. "I'd watch out for him if I were you, Dumbledore."

"Oh, he's not unbalanced," said Dumbledore quietly. "He's just suffered a severe disappointment."

"He's not the only one!" puffed Fudge. "The Daily Prophet's going to have a field day! We had Black cornered and he slipped through our fingers yet again! All it needs now is for the story of that hippogriff's escape to get out, and I'll be a laughing stock! Well... I'd better go and notify the Ministry..."

"And the dementors?" said Dumbledore. "They'll be removed from the school, I trust?"

"Oh yes, they'll have to go," said Fudge, running his fingers distractedly through his hair. "Never dreamed they'd attempt to administer the Kiss on an innocent boy... Completely out of control... no, I'll have them packed off back to Azkaban tonight... Perhaps we should think about dragons at the school entrance..."

"Hagrid would like that," said Dumbledore, smiling at me, Harry and Hermione. As he and Fudge left the room, Madam Pomfrey hurried to the door and locked it again. Muttering angrily to herself, she headed back to her office.

There was a low moan from the other end of the ward. Ron had woken up. I could see him sitting up, rubbing his head, looking around.

"What - what happened?" he groaned. "Harry? Why are we in here? Where's Sirius? Where's Lupin? What's going on?"

Me, Harry and Hermione looked at each other.

"You explain," said Harry to Hermione, helping himself to some more chocolate.


	15. Departing

****ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING****

While I was helping my Dad pack up his office, I saw Harry coming on the Marauder's Map.

"Harry's coming." I informed Moony, as I shoved some books in a trunk.

"Ah, I thought he might." he murmured.

It didn't take long for Harry to get here, and when he did, Moony said, "we saw you coming."

"I just saw Hagrid," said Harry. "And he said you'd resigned. It's not true, is it?"

"I'm afraid it is," said Dad. He started opening his desk and taking out the contents as I picked up a heavy box and moved it across the room.

"Why?" asked Harry. "The Ministry of Magic don't think you two were helping Sirius, do they?" Moony crossed to the door and closed it behind Harry.

"No. Professor Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge that we were trying to save your lives." he sighed. "That was the final straw for Severus. I think the loss of the Order of Merlin hit him hard. So he - er - accidentally let slip me and Jack are werewolves this morning at breakfast."

"Prick," I muttered.

"You're not just leaving because of that!" said Harry. Moony smiled wryly.

"This time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents... They will not want a werewolf teaching their children, and they won't want a half werewolf hybrid around their children -" he stopped and grinned at me. "- although there's not much they can do about that, seeing as Jack has decided to stay."

"You're the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had!" said Harry. "Don't go!" I shook my head; I got my stubbornness from Moony, if he decided something, there was no changing his mind about it.

Moony shook his head and didn't speak. He carried on emptying his drawers. Then, said, "From what the headmaster told me this morning, you saved a lot of lives last night, Harry. If I'm proud of anything I've done this year, it's how much you've learned... Tell me about your Patronus."

"How d'you know about that?" said Harry, distracted.

"Jack told me." He said, and I smirked at Harry.

Harry told us what had happened - I'd been there, but it was just as cool when Harry described it. When he'd finished, Moony was smiling again.

"Yes, your father was always a stag when he transformed," he said. "You guessed right... that's why we called him Prongs."

Moony threw his last few books into his case, closed the desk drawers, and turned to look at Harry.

"Here - I brought this from the Shrieking Shack last night," he said, handing Harry back the Invisibility Cloak. "And..." He hesitated, then held out the Marauder's Map too. "I am no longer your teacher, so I don't feel guilty about giving you back this as well. It's no use to me, and I daresay you, Ron, and Hermione will find uses for it."

Harry took the map and grinned.

"You told me Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs would've wanted to lure me out of school... you said they'd have thought it was funny."

"They would have," I muttered, passing Moony another book.

"I have no hesitation in saying that James would have been highly disappointed if his son had never found any of the secret passages out of the castle." said Moony, closing his case.

There was a knock on the door. Harry hastily stuffed the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak into his pocket.

I looked up; it was Professor Dumbledore. He didn't look surprised to see Harry there.

"Your carriage is at the gates, Remus," he said.

"Thank You, Headmaster."

Moony picked up his old suitcase and the empty Grindylow tank.

"Well - good-bye, Harry," he said, smiling. "It has been a real pleasure teaching you. I feel sure we'll meet again sometime. Headmaster, there is no need to see me to the gates, I can manage..."

I knew that Moony wanted to leave as quickly as possible. He gave me a quick hug, patting me on the back. "See you at the station," he said. "I won't forget."

"Good-bye, then, Remus," said Dumbledore soberly. Moony shifted the Grindylow tank slightly so that he and Dumbledore could shake hands. Then, with a final nod to Harry and a swift smile at me, Moony left the office.

Harry sat down in his vacated chair, staring glumly at the floor. I heard the door close and looked up. Dumbledore was still there.

"Why so miserable, Harry?" he said quietly. "You should be very proud of yourself after last night."

"It didn't make any difference," said Harry bitterly. "Pettigrew got away."

"Didn't make any difference?" said Dumbledore quietly, "It made all the difference in the world, Harry. You helped uncover the truth. You saved an innocent man from a terrible fate."

"Professor Dumbledore - yesterday, when I was having my Divination exam, Professor Trelawney went very - very strange."

"Indeed?" said Dumbledore.

"Stranger than usual, you mean?" I asked curiously.

"Yes... her voice went all deep and her eyes rolled and she said... she said Voldemort's servant was going to set out to return to him before midnight... She said the servant would help him come back to power." Harry stared up at Dumbledore. "And then she sort of became normal again, and she couldn't remember anything she'd said. Was it - was she making a real prediction?"

Dumbledore looked mildly impressed.

"Do you know, Harry, I think she might have been." he said thoughtfully. "Who'd have thought it? That brings her total of real predictions up to three. I should offer her a pay raise..."

"But -" I looked at him, aghast. How could Dumbledore take this so calmly?

"But - I stopped Sirius and Professor Lupin from killing Pettigrew! That makes it my fault if Voldemort comes back!" Harry exclaimed.

"It does not," said Dumbledore quietly. "Hasn't your experience with the Time-Turner taught you anything, Harry? The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed... Professor Trelawney, bless her, is living proof of that... You did a very noble thing, in saving Pettigrew's life."

"But if he helps Voldemort back to power

"Pettigrew owes his life to you. You have sent Voldemort a deputy who is in your debt... When one wizard saves another wizard's life, it creates a certain bond between them... and I'm much mistaken if Voldemort wants his servant in the debt of Harry Potter."

"I don't want a connection with Pettigrew!" said Harry. "He betrayed my parents!"

"This is magic at its deepest, its most impenetrable, Harry. But trust me... the time may come when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew's life."

I couldn't imagine when that would be. Dumbledore looked as though he knew what I was thinking.

"I knew your father very well, both at Hogwarts and later, Harry," he said gently. "He would have saved Pettigrew too, I am sure of it."

Harry looked up at him.

"I thought it was my dad who'd conjured my Patronus. I mean, when I saw myself across the lake... I thought I was seeing him."

"An easy mistake to make," said Dumbledore softly. "I expect you'll tire of hearing it, but you do look extraordinarily like James. Except for the eyes... you have your mother's eyes.

Harry shook his head.

"It was stupid, thinking it was him," he muttered. "I mean, I knew he was dead."

"You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night."

It took a moment for me to realize what Dumblefore had said.

"Last night Sirius told me all about how they became Animagi," said Dumbledore, smiling. "An extraordinary achievement - not least, keeping it quiet from me. And then I remembered the most unusual form your Patronus took, when it charged Mr. Malfoy down at your Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. You know, Harry, in a way, you did see your father last night... You found him inside yourself."

And Dumbledore left the office, leaving us to our very confused thoughts.

* * *

Nobody at Hogwarts now knew the truth of what had happened the night that Sirius, Buckbeak, and Pettigrew had vanished except me, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Professor Dumbledore. As the end of term approached, I heard many different theories about what had really happened, but none of them came close to the truth.

Malfoy was furious about Buckbeak. He was convinced that Hagrid had found a way of smuggling the hippogriff to safety, and seemed outraged that he and his father had been outwitted by a gamekeeper. Percy Weasley, meanwhile, had much to say on the subject of Sirius's escape.

"If I manage to get into the Ministry, I'll have a lot of proposals to make about Magical Law Enforcement!" he told the only person who would listen - his girlfriend, Penelope.

Though the weather was perfect, though the atmosphere was so cheerful, though I knew we had achieved the near impossible in helping Sirius to freedom, I had never approached the end of a school year in worse spirits.

My three friends certainly wasn't the only one who was sorry to see Moony go. The whole of our Defense Against the Dark Arts class was miserable about his resignation.

"Wonder what they'll give us next year?" said Seamus Finnigan gloomily.

"Maybe a vampire," suggested Dean Thomas hopefully.

"I hope not," I said. "Vampires hate me."

The exam results came out on the last day of term. Me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had passed every subject. I was amazed that I had got through Potions. I had a shrewd suspicion that Dumbledore might have stepped in to stop Snape failing both me and Harry on purpose. Snape's behavior toward us over the past week had been quite alarming. I wouldn't have thought it possible that Snape's dislike for us could increase, but it certainly had. A muscle twitched unpleasantly at the corner of Snape's thin mouth every time he looked at us, and he was constantly flexing his fingers, as though itching to place them around our throats.

Percy had got his top-grade N.E.W.T.s; Fred and George had scraped a handful of O.W.L.s each. Gryffindor House, meanwhile, largely thanks to their spectacular performance in the Quidditch Cup, had won the House championship. This meant that the end of term feast took place amid decorations of scarlet and gold, and that the Gryffindor table was the noisiest of the lot, as everybody celebrated. I even managed to ignore the looks and mutterings I was getting.

Apparently, apart from just telling the Slytherins I was a werewolf, Snape had told them I was a cross-breed. I endured days of people watching me with fear, fascination and disgust. But, I was used to this behavior once people found out what I was, and it got quite amusing. I kept my eyes gold now, not having to hide them, and this seemed to make people more afraid.

I walked onto the platform after a train journey with my three friends, and spotted my Dad beaming at me. I waved to the trio, before gripping Moony's arm.

Time to go home.


End file.
